Ace Combat: The Hoolian War
by a ship nerd
Summary: takes place after the books and ac 5 : peace has been restored to both the great tree and Ocea. blaze and edge leave to start a family. but after a new threat rises, Razrgriz must return again with the help of some new friends. rated T just in case for violence.
1. prologue

Epilogue/Prologue

 _"When history witnesses a great change, Razrgriz reveals itself. First, as a dark demon. As a demon, it uses its power to rain death upon the land. Then it dies. However, after a period of slumber, Razrgriz returns… and this time, as a great hero."_

 _The unsung war, was over. Belka had been stopped again, and both sides could spend the new year with their families._

 _"We won!"_

 _"Yahoo!"_

 _"Salute the aces of Razrgriz!"_

 _"Razrgriz! Razrgriz! Razrgriz! Razrgriz! Razrgriz! Razrgriz! Razrgriz! Razrgriz! Razrgriz…"_

 _"Can you hear these cheers? Don't tell me you can't hear them."_

Scene transaction

Captain Snow retired as a fighter pilot after the war. Now flies the president's transport plane Mother Goose one. Only the President is allowed to know who he is.

Grim stayed in Ocea, assuming the role as the leader of Archer Squadron call sign Archer 1. Archer Squadron became the president's new personal air fleet. Comprised entirely of Ocean aces, they were good. But not anywhere near as good as the Demons of Razrgriz, aka Sand Island Squadron, aka the Ghosts of Razrgriz. Their paint scheme was the same as Archer Squadron but their emblem was different. Only Archer 1 has the Razrgriz emblem, Archer 2-9 has a classic Ocean emblem.

Nagase and Blaze left Ocea and became wingfast (married in GoG). Where they left to is top secret. Although they didn't retire, they agreed to return if/when another war broke out. But that is the only reason why anyone is to come see them.

Pops stayed on the now uninhabited and empty Sand Island. That was his home, and he decided to stay there until the end of his days.

Bartlett also retired, decided to settle down with the 'Major' and started a family of his own.

Hamilton's body was never found. Although no evidence was found to suggest he was alive, there was no evidence to confirm he was dead.

The Sand Island base commander was forced into early retirement. That is all that needs to be known about him.

All the 'Grey men' were found and shot. Except for the survivors of the 8492 squadron and the Yuke aggressors. None were found. Again there was/and still is no evidence. The last radio transmission was the 8492 leader saying 'we will be back, we aren't finished yet'.

 **A/N: If any details are off please let me know. I hope to edit these stories more often but I can't make any promises. R and R and I will see you all later.**


	2. Chapter 1: arrival

Chapter 1

Location: 27 leagues south-east of the Great Tree.

Time: sunset

Nagase breathed in a deep breath, inhaling the pure, yet salty, sea air. Letting it out with a sigh, she continued north east to her target. This time the barn owl's target wasn't a bunker full of military snakes, or an owl charging at her with the intent to kill, or anything else she needed to blow up, thankfully.

' _If only me and Blaze could do what we really want to do…'_ she started to wish. She quickly pushed that thought out of her mind though. Because they weren't actually retired, they weren't allowed to start a family. It could only be them, and them alone. It was sad yes, but they were still loyal to Ocea, they agreed though that if another war involving Ocea happed they would have to return to service. But after the war, they could retire and settle down. _'But what are the odds of another war'_ she wondered sadly. It almost seemed as if she wanted another war to start. Key word, almost.

Flapping her wings a few more times, she continued flying at a very high altitude of 1,000 feet above sea level. Now, dear reader, that may not seem like a whole lot to us. But if one yard stick to us is equal to 10 feet in height comparison, that would be about 3,300 or so feet for us.

Being high up, she could see the island on the horizon. The Great Tree loomed up high over the edge of her sight, its towering height and size would have put the S.O.L.G to shame. Approaching the tree, now just 5 leagues away, she decided to begin her descent and started to dive.

Seen Transaction

Soren, king of the Great tree, flew out the royal hollow he was sharing with his family. He flew with an unusually high pace, he had just gotten word that an owl was approaching the tree from the south east. That wouldn't have been wired if there _was_ anything in that direction. There was nothing but endless miles of ocean in that way. Or so they thought.

He could see the owl now, it was a barn owl. As he got closer, he realized this owl was a female, a beautiful female. 0.o She landed a distance away, he could hear her sigh as she landed, due to of course his incredible hearing. It sounded almost as if she had been on a long journey.

Landing a short distance away from her, he decided to open a greeting to her.

"Hello, welcome to the Great Ga'Hoole tree. My name is Soren, I am king of this tree," he said to the owl.

"A pleasure to meet you, your majesty," she replied bowing her head once.

"No need for that, I don't want special treatment. Just call me Soren," he said with a warm, friendly smile.

"Very well, my name is Kei Nagase. I come from the far country known as Ocea. You wouldn't have heard of it. It is very, very far away."

"Over the ocean?" he asked.

"Yes. I had to travel really high to save energy, the air is thinner up there you know."

"Yeah," Soren said understanding.

"We would request if we could stay and live among you. We have traveled far for this."

Soren was confused. "We?" He asked.

"My mate, he should be coming shortly."

Almost on que, they looked up to hear the high-pitched shree coming from another barn owl. Nagase smiled. "There he is." She said with obvious glee.

The owl closed his wings and went into a steep dive. He was heading straight toward them. Soren suddenly jumped back as the owl got very close to the ground. At the last possible millisecond, the owl snapped open his wings, and pushed them down hard just above the ground. The push also propelled him forward at a very high speed. He soared up screaming "YAHOO!" Soren has a look on his face that said 'what the heck just happened,' Nagase on the other hand was chirring (the owl form of laughing) oh so hard.

"I probably should have told you, he is a bit of a show-off," she managed to get out.

 **A/N: well that is chapter 2. Also, at the time I am posting this, happy thanksgiving every American out there. Also, sorry I didn't get this out earlier, I have just hit another author's block :,( you can thank my aunt for yelling at me that she didn't get a turn on the computer today for that. This is proving my point that no one in this house wants to give up time on the computer for me to be able to type this up. Pray for me.**


	3. Chapter 2: Settling in

Chapter 2

Location: the Great Ga'Hoole tree

Time: midnight

Soren just got over the shock from the weird and impressive feet just pulled by this new owl. The owl landed next to Nagase and after folding his wings, began to preen his mates' own wings. She gladly returned the gesture; they only preened for a second before they both turned their heads to Soren.

"Soren, I would like you to meet my mate Blaze. Blaze meet Soren, king of the Great tree."

"Nice to meet you Soren," Blaze said in a cheerful voice. He reached out his right talon and held it in a spot between them.

Soren looked down at the out stretched talon puzzled. If owls had eye brows, one of his would have been raised. Nagase chirred slightly before saying to Soren "It's a classic greeting in our country. You hold the other's talons and shake them slightly.

Soren, still puzzled, raised his talon and shook talons with Blaze.

"Interesting, you do this all the time in your country?" Soren asked curiously.

It was Blaze's turn to chirr. "Yes indeed," he said still cheerful.

"It may seem weird to you, but this is common practice," Nagase said before she paused as if she wanted to say more.

"Soren?!" a lovely female voice called out before Nagase could say anything else. Soren turned his head around to the source and smiled.

"Over Here Pellimore!" he called back to the female barn owl that was flying above them.

Pellimore looked down and dived down to Soren. She landed next to him and smiled.

"Pellimore, meet Kei Nagase and… Blaze?" Soren paused and looked at the other male owl quizzically.

"Yes, Blaze," Blaze said introducing his self. "As we were saying, we would like to stay here at this incredible tree and become part of it." Blaze than frowned, he had a distant look in his eyes. "We have seen a lot of war; we hope to find some peace here."

"I'll admit, we just got over a war ourselves. It was just about a year ago when we ended the 'war of the ember'. We gained a lot that day. But we also lost so much," it was Soren's turn to have a depressing look. "The tree lost one of its best kings, and I lost my only nephew. His name was Coryn, he was like a son to me," Soren said dreamily. "Now, on to your question, considering the pure ones are gone, and Nyra is dead I don't see a reason why I should be suspicious of you so, yes. You can stay here."

Blaze and Nagase embraced each other in joy. They turned to Soren with indescribable expressions of happiness. "Also, please just call me Nagase."

Soren nodded. "Very well, come with me I will help set up a hollow for you," he said as they all took flight.

Seen transaction

"Before you settle in, I thought it would be a good idea to show you around a bit," Soren said to the couple as they landed on a branch just outside the dining hollow. Before he could continue, a female spotted owl landed next to Soren with a smile on her face. She wore a bandana around her head covering one of her eyes.

"Soren, I'm glad to report the new festival is going smoothly as planned, also we had a few complaints that Cook over did the bat wings again. Strangely, the tree has seemed to be producing more milk berries recently. The tree's health is perfect, and we expect a plentiful harvest this winter."

Soren didn't even try to cut in. He knew Otulissa could be like this where you couldn't get her to stop talking for love or money. He took his chance and politely interrupted. "Otulissa, meet Blaze and Nagase. They will be staying here a while so why don't you show them around. I must return to the three B's soon."

Otulissa nodded to Soren, he didn't need to say more so he quickly left. "All right," Otulissa said to the remaining barn owls. "Let's start with the dining hallow…"

 **A/N: To answer Lowknave's question, yes they were always owls in my story. I will go into more detail later in the story. By the way to any Ace Combat fan out there, Ace Combat 7 Is Official! That's Right, Ace Combat 7 Is Coming Soon.** _ **FINALY!**_


	4. Chapter 3: shattered skys

Chapter 3

One week later.

Blaze and Nagase had started to settle in, but not without a few tears.

Otulissa had been showing them around the tree when they stopped at her hollow. She said she needed to check on her eggs. Both Blaze and Nagase's eyes went wide, they glanced at each other.

"Oh, would you like to see them?" Otulissa asked noticing their expressions.

"Sure," Blaze said slowly.

Upon entering, they saw a nest with 4 white orbs laid down in it.

"If I'm not prying too much, I'm surprised you two aren't parents yet your selves. You two would make great parents, why aren't you yet if it isn't too much to ask?" Otulissa said not realizing what she just asked them.

Both Blaze and Nagase shut their eyes hard, and turned their heads away fighting back tears. Nagase just barely managed to stifle a sob, and as she opened her eyes and looked back at Otulissa, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Otulissa went wide-eyed. "Oh Gluax. Was it something I said?" she asked her voice full of worry.

"I-is just that… we can't. If we were allowed to we would in a heartbeat. You see, we are a part of Ocea's military force. A military is a group of armed forces that defends a nation. There are incredible advantages to this; however, there are also a lot of disadvantages. Including, you can't get into a relationship. We were an exception because we had done so much to help. But we still have restrictions, even if we are the top aces."

"What's an ace?"

"An ace is an owl that has shot down 5 owls. It's known as a kill record. Blaze and I have the highest kill record out of anyone in Ocea. We are so good, our identities are top secret."

"Kill record? What's your kill record?" being a worrier, Otulissa, of course, would ask that question.

"I have the kill record of 53, Blaze however, has 116."

"W-w-what!? Gluax are you lucky."

"Luck has nothing to do with it," Blaze said coldly. "Like we said before, we have seen a lot of war."

After a short time, they had all forgotten about the conversation. Blaze and Nagase were in the dining hall eating with Soren, he was introducing them to all the ribs in the tree. As they were eating, Soren suddenly put on a quizzical face.

"What is it?" Blaze asked.

"Do you hear that?" Soren replied.

Every one turned their heads to where Soren was looking. Nagase and Blaze's eyes opened wide with a look of pure horror. Before anyone could ask, they were gone. They immediately landed outside the dining hollow and stared at the direction the sound was coming from. The others finally caught up with them, but (once again) before anyone could ask, Blaze turned to Soren and just said…

"Get everyone inside now. Get them as for underground as possible, and keep them there."

"I can't do that. I may have no reason to distrust you, but I still don't trust you fully. I'm sorry, but I can't…"

That was all Soren was able to say before Blaze pushed him to the wall, and held him there by the neck. The others tore Blaze of Soren, and he fell over the side. Nagase screeched his name, and jumped after him. He landed hard on his back; Nagase landed by his side, but could do nothing.

Before anyone could do anything else, nine owls with strange things attached to their sides and under sides, flew out of the clouds. It was then the others realized the strange noise came from those owls. Those nine owls attacked without warning. Strange tubes dropped out from them and trails of steam flew out of them. The tubes turned and headed straight for them, the tubes hit their targets, and the owls outside were sprayed with a strange liquid. The owls fell over, they weren't dead, but they couldn't move or feel any part of their bodies covered in the spray.

What happened next? Close your eyes and imagine planes, missiles, and bullets flying everywhere. Pretend the planes are owls, and you should be pretty close to what happened.

After everything calmed down,(everyone was shot down) the nine owls regrouped together in a formation to bombard the owls inside. Nagase could only watch in horror next to her mate as this all unfolded. Suddenly, something strange happened. As the owls approached, 6 MRAA (medium range air to air missiles) came out of nowhere and took 6 of the attackers. The others immediately tried to split off but 2 side winder missiles (short range, but good accuracy) hit 2 other owls. Before anyone knew what was going on, 8 owls fell either to the ground or into the see. The last owl however tried to escape, but failed. Another owl flew out of the clouds, and chased after the owl. A seemingly invisible force sliced the wing off the escapee, and it plunged into the ocean.

Suddenly, a voice was heard in the sky above. It was a song of hope and strength.

 _"O'er azure skies_

 _And emerald plains_

 _Where freedom and justice prevail_

 _With courage and strength_

 _We'll fight to the end_

 _For liberty in our land."_

 **A/N: next chapter! Lowknave, how did you know? Can anyone name this song? Btw, this is the longest chapter I have ever published. 911 words. :)**


	5. Chapter 4: the grim reaper

Chapter 4

6 hours earlier

Location: Silverveil, Cape Glaux.

The owls made their base here. In a small mountain cave, the enemy lurked. It was calm, in just a few minutes they would begin their first attacks on the great tree. This island was a key location to capturing the six kingdoms. The tree its self was shrouded with mystery; no one at the base knew what the tree looked like. One report stated that it was almost as big as megalith! 'Somehow, I severely doubt that, I should know, I was there,' thought one officer as he stared at his radar screen. It wasn't much of a radar that was being used though. Everything was makeshift here at base one way or another.

It was still necessary for the operation though. The officer looked back to the screen and watched it closely. Just as he was going to leave his post at the end of his shift, he saw something… strange. On the radar, instead of there being a blip, there was an outline. A thin, round outline. 'What in the world?' he thought. The other officer, that was to take over for him, came over and saw the puzzled expression on his face.

"What is it?" the new officer asked walking over.

"Do you see this?" he replied indicating to the screen.

There was a moment of silence before the new officer suddenly had a realization. The outline was being created by an aircraft designed to block radar signals. In other words… a stealth aircraft. "We're under attack," he whispered.

Everything was code red. Sirens were going off ever where, weapon systems came online and held tight.

"Can you get a visual?" asked one officer in the control room.

The owl he was talking to shook his head. "Negative sir, I can't… wait…" the owl squinted through the telescope. "I think I have a visu…" the owl froze. He pulled his eye away from the telescope; there was a look of pure horror on his face.

"What? What is it?" asked the officer in charge. Before he could do anything, the owl charged out of the room and flew over to another room labeled 'fire control'. This is where all the weapons are controlled from, such as Surface to Air Missile launchers (SAM); this is also where they control the launch for all aircraft.

The owl flew over to the station where all the SAMs where controlled from. "What are you…" one owl tried to ask, the panicked owl took control of all the SAM sights. Without warning, he locked target on the approaching stealth craft, and fired… everything… at once. 3 dozen trails of steam were soaring through the air heading straight for the aircraft. Just before the SAMs made contact, the owl pulled up, and dropped something out of his SP weapon's (Special weapon's) bay.

The item was slender at the front half, it was a bare tube. After the tube, there was a cone which led back to a bigger cylinder, the sides of the cylinder had more tubes, which spiraled out into a shape that almost looked like a flower. After the item dropped for a shot amount of time, something on the back and center of the cylinder flared up, literally, it looked like it burned extremely hot. From the tubes that branched out, came a fountain of flares.

Every one of those SAMs headed straight for the flares. Because the owl hid behind the explosions, they all thought he was dead. The officer that asked if he could get a visual approached and, trying to contain his anger, asked "Could you explain why you, just, fired, all, of, our, SAMs, at, _One_ , owl?"

"That was no owl… that was," he paused as if trying to debate whether what he was about to say was important info, or a pure nightmare. "That was… The Grim Reaper."

It felt all the air was instantly sucked out of the room. No one even dared to breathe. The Grim Reaper was the one that destroyed Stonehenge, Megalith, shot down all of yellow squadron, and handled Free Erusea by himself. If he was here, what just happened was not overkill, at all.

"launch them out," the officer said. They managed to sneak out and began flight preparations.

 **A/N: well I guess I will have to end this chapter here. I love this story, I will continue it for a long time.**


	6. Chapter 5: Launch

Chapter 5

No change in time or location.

Four northern saw-whet owls (mig-29), four short eared owls (mig-35), and a great grey owl (F-35) were standing in the takeoff position on the makeshift launch pad, ready to soar into the sky at a single command that could be given at any moment. The great grey tensed. He was as nerviest as anyone; they were almost attacked by the Grim Reaper. He had never been attacked by him before, but if what he was told about him was true… he shook his head; he was just about to launch the first attack on the great Ga'Hoole tree. This mission was the first vital key to invading what the locals called the southern and northern kingdoms.

According to reliable sources, these kingdoms were only just past the Stone Age, or whatever kind of Stone Age owls could have. They didn't even have the crossbow yet, let alone discovered The Chemical. This should make operations easy; however because of the location of the tree, it was still a vital area to control. It is just between the northern and southern kingdoms, the ideal location for an invasion.

The inhabitance shouldn't pose that much of a problem, but they still needed to be put in their place. 'We'll show the world just how powerful Erusea can be,' the great grey thought. Just as he was thinking this, a small elf owl with red dyed wings walked out in front of the formation. Using her wings, and various signals, she commanded the formation to begin preflight procedures.

The owls reached up and turned a small knob on the undersides of their J. on their stomachs. The jet's inner turbines began to spin around like clockwork; the air was starting to suck in from front intakes along the owl's chests. The worrier class migs had intakes that allowed air to head straight into the turbines, from there the air is forced into a small chamber where the pressurized air combines with a small amount of ignited Chemical; the reaction gives an incredible amount of thrust. The more of The Chemical is added to the mixture, the more thrust is given. The great grey's jet was based off the same principle; however its design was designed to mask the heat signature considering heat detection was used to detect approaching aircraft. The only exception to this stealth technology is if the owl engages its afterburners. That is detectable no matter what.

The owls powered up, the migs' weapons were wing mounted via a steel skeleton attached to the underside of their wings. The great gray's wings also had the skeleton; however it had no weapons attached. Instead, at his chest area was his weapons bay. It held both his sidewinder missiles (named after the snake) and his Long Range Air to Surface missiles. (LRAS)

Holding onto the take-off perch, (a piece of wood or metal connected to a driving power such as a rail or chain that an owl holds onto. When it is activated, it propels the owl forwards, when the owl reaches the end of the catapult it disconnects form the driving power and the owl drops it. The same happens when landing except the process is reversed.) The owls took to the sky. They turned east, their destination, the great tree.

It was only after they left that Mobius 1 approached the base. He was on a mission of importance as well. He's weapons were all removed; in their place was all the necessary reconnaissance equipment, and the new flare bomb. He gathered all he needed from the base via photographing and began returning back to the airborne carrier. These photos were important if the Independent State Allied Forces (ISAF) was going to finally put an end to Free Erusea once and for all.

 _Mobius 1, preform landing checks._

 _You are clear to land._

As he came in for a landing, he knew as soon as he got the photos back he would have to be in the air again. 'I need to track the attacking squad and eliminate them before they can do any harm.' He thought to himself.

Later on the carrier, the 'Grim Reaper' took back to the sky. As soon as he was airborne, he went full throttle and flew as fast as his wings could carry him south east. Reports of activity over the great tree came in a short time ago from a slipgizlle stationed inside.

Even from the distance he was at, Mobius 1 could have sworn he could hear the screams of terror from the tree. 'I wonder if it's because of me being a barn owl, or I'm just parodied.' He thought. 

**A/N: sorry it took so long to update. To explain a few things this story is only slightly more realistic than Ace combat. Also, at the end of AC4 Mobius 1 was mostly known as 'the grim reaper' near the end of the game. At least Erusea thought so. Also you must remember in the previous chapter when the owl fired the SAMs he was in a state of panic. Also keep in mind he knew what Mobius 1 could do because he was at megalith. Mobius 1 is supposed to be resembled as death. (no I don't believe in devil worship, it's metaphorical.)**


	7. Chapter 6: medic

Chapter 6

Day 1: Sunset

Location: the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, medical wing

The medical wing was flooded with owls following the battle… well some wouldn't really call it a battle; it only lasted a few seconds from when the owl engaged the enemy. That owl was still flying over the tree protecting it like a guardian angel. Despite the shock from the initial attack, there was a feeling of calmness over the tree and its inhabitance.

Back to the medical wing, some owls were chemical numbed, a few sustained light wounds from falling or other reasons; other owls were just in a state of shock. Every owl available was working to help the wounded. Blaze suffered the most serious injuries, nothing was broken thank Glaux; however he suffered badly in almost every other way. He had hit the back of his head on impact, one of the medical staff confirmed he may have a concussion. He had to lie on his front side because the tree roots at the area he fell were jagged and he had been stabbed and cut in various locations. His wings were in bad shape, he would need treatment for them… treatment the tree couldn't provide.

A few believed Blaze shouldn't be helped; after all he did grab the king by the neck and possibly could have killed him. Despite this, Soren himself supervised the treatment the medical staff were giving Blaze. Twilight was the first and only one to ask why he was to be treated. Soren calmly replied, "He tried to warn us, he knew what was coming and I didn't listen to him. It's my fault he was injured, so it's my responsibility he heals."

"But Soren… he attacked you," Twilight said with stern tone.

Soren seemed to swell twice his size, and had on a threatening pose.

'Is Soren threatening…? Twilight?' Otulissa thought glancing between the two. Just in case, she took a step back... and wifiled slightly.

"He," Soren said trying to keep calm, but would soon fail. "…had enough of a punishment when _you_ through him off the ledge, he is so badly injured now the doctors say he may never _fly again._ _No owl deserves to be permanently grounded no matter what he or she has done! NOT, EVEN,_ _NRYA_ _, DISERVES THAT TWILIGHT! NOT EVEN HER!_ "

Never had Twilight looked so tiny. He had backed up to wall and wifiled more than half his size. Then again, so had everyone else in that part of the wing. Soren, starting to calm down again, turned to lead doctor and said peacefully "Treat him as if it was me you were taking care of," before turning around and flew back to the royal hollow.

Everyone was shocked. For a moment no one moved or even dared to breath. Until, that is, when the lead doctor finally said "You heard him, anyone who doesn't need to be here please leave."

Scene transaction

Soren flew back to his hollow slowly; he needed some air to clear his mind. He wondered where the owl was; he had been searching the skies for a while now and could not find him.

The owl came out of nowhere. It flew right over him with incredible speed. The owl had something in his talons; he opened up his talons and the object, which looked like a book, fell to the ground.

Soren kept his eyes on the book until it hit the ground. When he looked back up to the sky the owl was gone. Curiosity taking over, he dived down after the book; he landed next to the book and looked it over. He opened the book to a random page, only to find they all were empty. Confused, he turned to the first page. This one was not empty. It had a strange message written on it…

 _We hope you can read this, because if you can't your all dead ducks._

 _What attacked you today was a rebel organization known as free_

 _Eurasia. We have been hunting them down for years, trying to stop_

 _them and bring them to an end. If this ever happens again, and it_

 _will, you won't be able to stop them. We can help you but first you_

 _need to help us. Meet us at where Ambala's, Kuneer's, and Tyto's_

 _borders come together. If you don't come in three days, we will_

 _assume you don't want our help. Also, if you come, bring Blaze;_

 _we can help him. He will get better if we get to him in time._

 _We await your response, King Soren._

 _From:_

 _The Independent State Allied Forces._


	8. Chapter 7: Welcome

Chapter 7

Day 3: Dusk

Location, 6 leagues north-north east of the meeting point

The owls were flying over the large river of Hoole. Soren, king of the great tree was flying point. Beside him on his left wing was Gylfie the navigator, his best friend and closest companion, he would have probably taken her as his mate had she been the same species. They were almost inseparable; they had been through so much together, if one died, the other would never feel complete. On his starboard wing was Twilight, his strategy, slash first ask questions later. On his wing was Digger, the tracker, it came naturally being a burrowing owl. On his wing was Ruby, best flyer in the 7 kingdoms.

On Gylfie's wing was Otulissa, chief rib and a superb weather interpreter. On her wing was Pellimore, Soren's mate and rib of the search and rescue chaw. Bubo, the tree's black smith was flying on her wing. And behind all the owls, was a carrier being pulled by Soren's sister, Eglantine and Blythe, Bash and Bell; Soren's daughters. In the carrier was Blaze, still unconscious from his ordeal. Flying beside the carrier was Nagase; Bell could see she still had tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry Kei, I'm sure Blaze will be fine," she tried.

Nagase sighed. "I hope so, like the message said, they can treat him if we get him to them. But I don't know how much longer he can hold on for…"

Scene transaction

"They're here," said Sky Eye flying far above the approaching owls. Sky Eye was a close friend of ISAF's top ace, Mobius 1. He had been since their first mission together over north point. Ever since that mission, they were always together both in the air and on the ground, despite one of them being an owl and the other an eagle. Mobius 1 didn't talk very much, but he was great at listening, and Sky Eye liked to talk a lot.

"Roger," Mobius 1 replied. He had been flying close by to the Ga'Hoolian owls, escorting them all the way here. ISAF had made it their responsibility to keep the owls in all the southern and northern kingdoms safe. That was the reason why they were setting up military bases at key points. Only this one had been finished though, the others would have to wait.

Scene transaction

"Welcome to ISAF's Hoolian base. We've been expecting you for some time, follow me and I will take you to the meeting room," said a female spotted owl.

The base was in a cave between the borders of the three kingdoms, a very strategic point. That made it use full for obvious reasons.

"Ah, here we are," the owl said opening the doors to the meeting room. The meeting room had several perches; they were fit to hold any sized owl and were a nice touch. At the front of the room was a screen; of course no owl knew what a screen was at the time. Soren turned to ask why they were here, only for the owl to step out and shut the doors.

The lights turned off, and the screen turned on. A blue image appeared, 3 white triangular arrows formed in a pattern to create a bigger triangle. Below it, the white letters **ISAF** were spelt out. A bald eagle stepped in front of the screen and began introducing himself.

"Hello, my name is Sky Eye. I am in command of this base and I welcome you. I see you got our message; sorry we had to drop in on you like that, we had no other way of contacting you. Your friends Blaze and Nagase will be fine; it'll be a few days before you can see them. Now, before I move on, are there any questions?"

Soren asked first. "Who attacked us?"

"Ah, yes… they are a rebel organization known as Free Eurasia. The biggest problem is that I thought Mobius 1 and I eliminated them all. It was quite a surprise when we found out some of them escaped. We still don't know how, we may never know."

Otulissa asked the next question. "What's their goal?"

"As far as we can tell, create the perfect fighting machine. After the Usio war, Free Eurasia began… experiments. They tested on so many different bird species we still haven't created long enough of a list. Any bird they could get a hold of, they tested on it. They went so far as to begin cross breading, they kept this up until they created what we think was a new prototype. It was labeled the X-02… I have never seen anything like it… back on topic, are there any more questions involving what I just said?"

All the owls in the room raised a wing. Sky Eye sighed; this would be a long day.

Scene transaction

A single owl flew at high speed toward his target. He didn't know what he was doing, Belka had recently discovered an interesting art… moon blinking. This owl had proved to be quite the trouble maker and could not be taught discipline. But he was one of the best Belka had ever seen, they erased his personality and turned him into a mindless tool. This was his first sortie. It was time.

"This is the RBM2, call sign _Lowknave_ , engaging…"

 **A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOWKNAVE! It just so happens I had a snow day today. I figured I would get another chapter out, so here is chapter 7!**


	9. Chapter 8: the AMC

Chapter 8

Day 3: 2200 hours

Location: ISAF's Hoolian base

Sky Eye had been answering a few questions the owls had asked, and in that short time he found these owls to be very curious. Yes he liked to talk, but this was almost ridicules. It felt to him like a nonstop wave of questions; of course he could answer them all, but it was getting tiring. Until Twilight asked a question that required more than words, it would require a demonstration. The question was, "How do those weapons work?" (Bonus points if you smiled or saw that coming)

So now they were in a test room, Sky Eye started his explanation. In front of the owls was a strange device with a tube sticking out the end of it. "This is called the AMC, which stands for automatic crossbow; how it works is that there is a small round knob, it is connected to a slightly larger wheel, around that wheel is a string that leads to another wheel which when turned does a number of things. One thing it does is it winds up the bow string and when the string is wound up enough, the arrow, which isn't even the length of half of a barn owl's talon, slides into place. In that split second of after the arrow drops, the wind up is released. The arrow then is shot into a slender metal tube. After the arrow is half way through the tube, a small flap is pulled up and blocks the airflow; this causes a significant amount of pressure to build up in one one-hundredth of a second; that amount of pressure being destabilized causes the air around the arrow to heat up significantly as it tries to escape the tube. Because the arrow was soaked in The Chemical, it has a very low flash point; if it is exposed to a temperature above 153* Fahrenheit it will ignite. So the arrow is now on fire, because the tube is sealed off it can't back draft and catch the owl on fire. The flaming arrow will catch the owl it is fired at on fire however; this makes it a great weapon. Now let's talk about missile…"

 _ **BANG!**_

The sound of an explosion tore through the room as something above them took a direct hit. A second after which alarms began so sound all over the base.

"Looks like it will have to wait; stay here and don't go anywhere. I'll be back," Sky Eye said as he rushed out the door.

 **A/N: short I know, but I am out of time today. Sorry about that. :-(**


	10. Chapter 9: Yo buddy, Ya still alive?

Chapter 9

Day 3: 2221 hours

No change in location

The entire base was in a panic. Warning systems were going off everywhere. SAM sights and AA systems came online. Mobius 1 was beginning take-off procedures; a piece of falling debris almost hit him while he was starting his engines. Latching on to the take-off platform, he held on as it catapulted him to flight speed.

Now in the air, he immediately turned and headed straight for the enemy. As he came closer he realized this would be a tricky battle; just by studying the battle and the owl's maneuvers. He had to admit, the owl was good. _Yet I feel like I know that flying style, but from where?_ He thought. He pushed it aside for now; he had a job to do and a base to protect.

As soon as he was in range, he fired a MRAA. The missile dropped out of his special weapons bay and tore after the enemy in a trail of white, thick, steam. The owl glanced at him and the missile, before evading it by going into a barrel roll. Mobius 1 knew it wouldn't hit even before he fired it, in his experience he knew when dealing with aces sometimes you need to not just go at them head on. Most of the time, you would need to see how they react. Study their flying style and find a weakness, exploit that weakness and then eliminate the target.

The two owls approached each other head on. At the last second, they both banked to the right and barely avoided clipping each other's wing tips. _Why do I suddenly feel Deja Vous?_ He thought as they began to circle each other. They kept staring at each other, both trying to get an upper edge. Mobius 1 adjusted his course and began to climb while maintaining the circle. The owl didn't even notice, and soon Mobius 1 reached a height above the enemy to begin a maneuver he discovered. He called it the 262 take down.

In WWII when the first jet called the Storm Bird Me 262 was first created by Belka, it was fast but it had one major flaw. When a P51 is at a high altitude, and when it dives from that height it goes as fast as the jet. It can keep up with it now, and not only that but the jet has terrible maneuverability. What they did is that they made the exoskeleton stronger and bigger, and then they strapped the 2 jet engines under the owl's wings. This made it extremely difficult to roll. The P51 could just fire his AMCs ahead of the jet, and there would be nothing the jet could do besides fly straight into the flaming arrows.

Mobius 1 used a tactic similar to this when dealing with aces one on one. By hitting the speed brake at a higher altitude, it would slow him down and he would make a quicker, tighter turn. There for he would be able to fire his AMC at/ahead of the owl and take him down or at least do some damage. If the owl avoids this and tries to escape, Mobius 1 being at a higher altitude would be able to chase it down quickly.

Confident he was ready, he began the maneuver. The maneuver was perfect, he had the correct amount of power, he hit the speed brake just right, he ruddered just the right way, and had his shot set. With a short circular rotation, he fired…

And missed.

Whoever this owl was knew that maneuver, and knew just how to counter it. Mobius 1 wasted no time wondering about how; he opened the throttle as wide as he possibly could and gave chase. Having the altitude advantage, he was able to catch up quickly and he hoped this would end now.

"Approaching gun range," said a recently taken off Sky Eye, observing the battle from afar.

Just as Mobius 1 was about to fire, the owl suddenly pulled up hard. His engines were at minimum power, and for a split second he seemed to be just hovering there.

 _What the…_ Mobius 1 began to wonder. Before he could do anything else, the owl rushed right over him and Mobius 1 realized this owl had just preformed a maneuver he instantly reconized. It was a Yuke maneuver known as the Pugachev Cobra… or just Cobra for short. As the owl flew over him, Mobius 1 actually got a good look at him. All the feathers on his body were died silver, besides the right half of his wing, which was painted blood red. Again, he felt an overwhelming sense of Deja Vous from this owl. This distracted him long enough to for him to not render something.

The owl was now on his six (directly behind him for those of you who know nothing about air combat).

He screamed in pain as his right wing was shot with 4 flaming mini arrows. His breathing was hard; he turned to his right side to look at the damage. His right wing was smoking but wasn't on fire… yet. Because of their size these arrows are actually designed to inflict as much pain as possible to the owl. The owl would lose his will to fight and will most likely return to base.

He then turned to the owl now flying beside him. The owl had a smile on his face, and they kept staring at each other until Mobius 1 closed his eyes to wait for the final blow…

It never came.

Deeply puzzled, he turned back to the other owl. The other owl then said something that shell-shocked him. After saying it the owl turned and headed back to base. Those words kept bouncing in Mobius 1's head. Those same words that could only have come from one owl.

"Yo buddy, ya still alive?"

 **A/N: sorry it took me a while to update. What just happened? All will be revealed in a later chapter. Until next time, this is ashipnerd signing off.**


	11. Chapter 10: mayday

Chapter 10

Day 3: 2235 hours

no change in location

 _Emptiness... it's all I feel. It surrounds me, floods me, fills my soul, it's all I have left. Wait... who am I? I don't know who I am? All well... Wait, all well? I don't care? Why don't I care? Why don't I care that I don't care? IS there anything left of me? Or am I trapped in a blank and dark void with no way out? Is this how it feels to be moon blinked? If it is, then why am I asking questions that I simply do not know? Or even care about? I don't even care enough to answer myself._

Knave's inner mono log was cut short by solo wing pixy approaching.

"Lowknave, how did you ever come up with _that_ name?" he asked with more of a disgraced expression on than a curious one. "Then again, it kind of suites you. You were really a knave."

Flying along side him he kept staring at the barn owl who they called the Red Baron Mark 2. Through much research they discovered he in fact was a descendent of the famous ace. However... I'll let solo wing explain.

"It truly is a shame we had to crescent blink you. If only you had just decided to fight for the glory of our country, of a world with no boundaries. Because, you truly are more efficient when you're not. We made new allies while we were trying to help you. We even found an ace who is willing to help. Altho we have simmiler ideas, we do have our differences. He wants all war to end, we want a world without borders. In the end, we both will have want we want. Although, that northern sea whet owl just wont loosen up. What was his name again? Ohh... yes... _Hamilton_. He really needs to loosen up. But he makes a formidable soldier, he even has a personal reason to take down the owls he calls 'The Ghosts of Razgriz.' We hear that they currently are with the ISAF. All the more reason to take them out."

The world finally sped up and returned to its original temporal flux. In other words, he was finally aware of the wind on his face, the roar of the engine, and Sky Eye almost screaming his call sign.

"Mobius 1! Mobius 1 please come in!"

"I-I-I'm here," he stammered.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. How long have I been out for?"

"Almost 14 minutes. It might also be a good idea to tell you that you still have your afterburners on."

Mobius 1 froze. Snapping back to reality, he reached up to the underside of the engines and turned a nob. The engines quickly idled and he did a fuel check. It read 6% remaining. _Cripps, and I took off with at least 70%!_ He thought. The problem with afterburners is that while it does give a lot more thrust, it acts more like a booster rocket than a jet. That means it burns up an incredible amount of fuel. Another disadvantage is that if a stealth aircraft engages its afterburners, it compromises its own stealth. Reason being is that owls used a type of thermal radar to detect approaching aircraft. Stealth aircraft use a type of nozzle that masks the heat signature, while reducing the amount of thrust that is lost. This nozzle opens up when afterburners are engaged to prevent damage.

"How far away am I from the base?" he asked hoping he wasn't to far away, if he wasn't he might be able to land before he ran out. That hope withered and died like a flower chocked by the weeds surrounding it in the middle of a desert with Sky Eye's next sentence.

"It looks like you're about 52 miles away."

 _Sprink!_ he shouted inwardly. Sprink is the most vile curse word an owl could say.

 _Even if I ration my fuel, it won't be enough to make it back._ He thought.

"What's your status Mobius 1?" Sky Eye asked, Immediately Mobius 1 did a quick systems check. He began a banking turn and began to RTB (return to base).

"My right wing is crippled, my fuel is at a critical level, and I'm still almost fully armed."

"Roger, RTB ASAP (as soon as possible).

It seemed like an eternity before the base came into sight, for once Mobius 1 received what he had given so many times before... Hope. It was short lived however as he heard what sounded like a bang, flowed a high pitched wine that became deeper and quieter in a very short time until it simply died out completely. He seemed to freeze almost would have gone yeep had it not been for the exo-skeleton holding his wings in place. Yeep is when an owl becomes so scared that they lose all instinct to fly. Their wings become useless and limp at their sides.

The noise he heard could only be one thing, he was completely out of fuel and his engine had died. He gulped. Wasting no more time, he sent out an urgent distress message.

"Mayday, Mayday! This is Mobius 1 I'm going down! Repeat, I'm Going Down!"

 **A/N: crescent blinking is a more controlled virion of moon blinking. It mostly erases the mind only leaving a sliver of it. Enough to make the owl be a mindless tool, yet he keeps his personality intact, but only a sliver like with a crescent moon. Hence the name. It makes the perfect soldier.**


	12. Chapter 11: impossible

Chapter 11

Day 3: 2257 hours

ISAF's Hoolian base

Sky Eye turned slowly and locked his landing talons. Smiler to how owls lock their battle claws. Landing talons have a type of cross wire that when something like a mettle beam hits it, it forces the talons to curl around the beam and the beam slows the bird to a stop. Very smiler to how an airplane comes to a stop when landing on an aircraft carrier.

After coming to a stop, he shutdown his engines and unhooked his landing talons. Detaching from his armor, he headed for the crew room where the rest of the staff were waiting. Along with the Ga'Hoolian owls.

"I want a search and rescue mission running ASAP. We have a baled out owl on the ground in the middle of the desert, possibly injured, I want a crew ready to launch by 2315 hours."

Sky Eye would not be happy with the report he was about to receive.

"We can't sir, we received to much damage to the take off perches during the attack. There's no way we could launch a rescue until we make repairs. I'm sorry sir, it's impossible."

Pellimore glanced between the two, she then looked down lost deep in thought. She then smiled before saying, "Not, _completely_ impossible...

 **A/N: sorry for short chapter, low on inspiration. created 2 new OCs, hope to put them in next chapter. R &R. See you guys later**


	13. Chapter 12: the're coming

Chapter 12

Day 4: 1800 hours

ISAF's Hoolian base, medical word

Mobius 1's eyes snapped open as he regained consciousness. With a strong gasp he stood up and breathed almost hard enough to begin hypperventilating. His friend, Sky Eye, quickly was at his side to help calm him down.

"Wooow, calm down, calm down," he said the second time slowly. He began to preen the feathers on Mobius 1's left wing in a soothing gesture. It worked, Mobius 1 began to calm down as his breathing became steadier. He closed his eyes with a sigh.

"How long was I out for?" he asked turning his gaze to his eagle friend.

"About 6 hours. I think you passed out when your shute opened, you were pretty close to the ground when you baled out," (Yes these owls do have an ejection system, how else would have captain Bartlet, Pops, and Nagase survived being shot down? Or when Razgriz was shot down when they were escaping in those training jets? Will go into detail later when I explain missiles. Which should be soon.)

"Ohhhh," Mobius 1 groaned as he started to get out of his nest. The impact must have given him his head-ache. "Ahhh," he winced as a sharp pain ripped through his right wing. _Oh, that's right... I was lazy enough to let someone shoot me. Wait, how did Pixy find me? Last I saw of him, I shot him down after he tried using lazers and mini atomic missiles on me. I sware that owl can monologue like no one else. But, he has terrible aim with that lazer, must have been practicing to get a shot on me like he did today. Hold on..._ "How did I get back, the ceiling crumbled and damaged the take-off perches right after I got in the air. There's no way you could have cleared and fixed it that fast," he said obviously puzzled.

Sky Eye returned a smile. "You have them to thank for that," he said pointing with his wing over to the door. The owls of the great tree walked in. He was even more puzzled.

"H-how...?"

"I'm the chef rib of the search and rescue chaw at the great tree," Phellimore said with a smile on her face. She was obviously proud of this fact and was very cheerful about it. "We handle this kind of thing all the time," she said as if it was nothing. To her it wasn't. Mobius 1 still was having a hard time believing this, but he understood it never-the-less.

"Wait, so the attack happened yesterday?" He asked with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Yeah... why?" Sky Eye asked puzzled.

Mobius 1's eyes widened with absolute horror. He eye twitched uncontrollably. His beak kept opening and closing, but wouldn't form words.

"What is it?" Sky Eye asked seriously. Mobius 1 was never like this, so something BIG must be up.

"T-t-t-t-th-th-th-th," he stuttered.

"What, what is it?!" he asked with concern written all over his face. Mobius 1 never was this scarred. Actually, Sky Eye couldn't remember a time when he was scarred at all. Why was that? Sky Eye could never figure it out, and he never asked.

"T-t-the're c-c-co-coming..."

 **A/N: don't have much to say, besides thanks to all of you who have stayed and read this hole story. Also, should I name my chapters? And not just chapter 1, chapter 2, exc. R/R and I hope to see you all later.**


	14. Chapter 13: the battle begins

Chapter 13

Day 4: 2100 hours

ISAF's Hoolian base

The base was quiet, there wern't that many in the base because altho the base its self is complete, there were only a few owls in the base. It was a skeleton crew, a small medical team, a few owls in fire control, a minor repair crew, Sky Eye and Mobius 1. Meaning there was only one owl that could intercept a target from a distance. Mobius 1 had originally arrived on one of ISAF's air born carriers, but until they received more recruits it would just be him.

To mobius 1 it wasn't that bad, life in the southern kingdoms was quite enjoyable. Cool nights, clear skys, beautiful terrain, and finally, a place to find a decent forest untouched by advanced technology.

At the base, they were taking extreme measures to make sure what ever was coming would not get through. Sky Eye had given specific orders for this emergency, they all knew these orders had to be followed perfectly, or they all would die.

Sky Eye had explained their situation in the briefing room.

"There is something big coming, I can tell because something has spoked Mobius 1, altho I do not have any more info considering he passed out from fear... I think that is reason enough to follow these orders with out question. Understood?"

There was a unanimous 'yes sir' from whatever crew was in the base.

"Good. I want every SAM sight available online and fully loaded, and bring out extra missiles to reload when you've fired everything. Everyone else arm up and get ready for an invasion. I want everyone, even the medics, to be armed with a SAMC (Semi AutoMatic Crossbow, the owl version of a hand gun). Dismissed."

So now, armed to the teeth, the owls waited for the coming enemy force. The silence was defining. It was so quiet the owls heard the enemy coming before they showed up on the radar.

In the control room, only one thought lingered in the air. "The're here..." Sky Eye said what everyone was thinking. "Prepare first wave of SAMs. And... FIRE!"

On cue, the first set of SAMs launched into the air and sped off after their targets. In all, the base had 8 SAM sights. Meaning they could fire 32 missiles before reloading. 7 missiles hit their targets, one missed. One by one, the bombers were taken down by ISAF's SAMs.

"Concentrate on the bombers, save the fighters for last." Sky Eye ordered. The order was followed and more bombers were taken out.

Now only 3 were left.

"Fire everything we have left at those three bombers, I don't want even one hole in this base."

The last of the SAMs were fired at the three bombers, 2 were quickly taken out, the last managed to fire one LRAS (Long Range Air to Surface) before 2 SAMs detonated beside and completely decimated the bomber.

"Take out that missile with AMCs!"

Military ground snakes took control of the selected weapon, it was a small, fast moving target... but they could hit it never the less. And with the pull of a trigger, and 29 mini arrows later, one of the missile's fins was shot off and it flew off corse. It detonated harmlessly in the river.

"All bombers down! Enemy fighters withdrawing from the battle, We won!" Praised one of the officers in the control room over the loud speaker.

I think we all can imagine the scene in the base at that moment.

"Sir..." one member of the medical team called up to Sky Eye.

"Go ahead," he replied.

"Mobius 1 has regained consciousness, he's heading up to the control room now."

On cue, the door opened to a barn owl with a bandaged wing. In the joy of wining, Sky Eye didn't notice the look on Mobius 1's face.

"You should have seen it Mobius 1..."

"Sky Eye..."

"I knew we could win if we just..."

"Sky Eye..."

"...held on to the hope that..."

"SKY EYE!"

"Oh, yes?"

"It's not over..."

Sky Eye's face fell. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"If anything, It's just starting..."

 **A/N: sorry for cliff hanger, if anyone has any questions involving this story... don't hesitate to ask. Just leave a review or PM me and I will answer your questions. Until next time, this is ashipnerd signing off.**


	15. Chapter 14: Options?

Chapter 14

Day 4: 2129 hours

ISAF's Hoolian base

"Please tell me you at least saved some of our SAMs' missiles," Mobius 1's face had a pleading look on. He knew there would be nothing anyone could do if they were out of ordinance. He had a temporally crippled wing, Razgriz couldn't fight because their wounded captain, and he highly doubted the Ga'hoolian owls would be able to use jet tec. (in human terms, that would be like taking a Roman Gladiator and telling him to drive a car.)

Sky Eye looked away. He couldn't bare looking into the eyes of his friend, not when he had been so foolish. Not only did the base have a skeleton crew, it had minimal weaponry for air defense. Only enough ordinance to reload one third of the base's SAMs was available... all of those, including the back ups, had been fired... there were a few other air defenses like the 3 AMCs close to the control room, but other than that... nothing. Sky Eye's wings hung limp at his sides as the gravity of the situation hit him harder than any brick wall could have.

No reserve fighters...

No SAMs...

No chance at replenishing their supply of weapons any time soon...

The base, and everyone in it, were siting ducks...

They could call reinforcements, but who would come? The rest of ISAF and Usia was a continent away...

They were low on options, if they even had any at all...

"You did fire them all, didn't you," Mobius 1 said flatly. There was no question about it. He could see it written on Sky Eye's face and the way he cowered left no doubt in his mind.

"Sigh... no use arguing about it now... we need to prepare for another attack. If I know Belka, they probably have already sent a wave of stealth bombers to take out what's left of our base." It was true, the first wave was just a diversion, half of the bombers that attacked looked like they were barely flying. None of the weapons used were even live... meaning they were likely training warheads.

"And how do you think we should do that? For all we know, they could be attacking right now if what you said was true," Sky Eye pointed out. Mobius 1 didn't respond, he couldn't have even if he wanted to...

It all happened at once...

A missile detonated right below the window of the control room. It shattered, splintered glass mixed with flaming Chemical flooded the room like the spray of sea water when a small boat enters a big wave. Mobius 1 and Sky Eye barely had enough time to shield their eyes with a wing.

And then...

Pain...

Nothing but pain...

 **A/N: sorry if these chapters seem to be growing shorter and shorter. I did what I could have today and the day before that. but because of school I am finding it harder to find time to work on this... but on a brighter note, my 2 new ocs will be in the next chapter. If you want to know more about them check my profile, I have added more info recently to them. that includes a description of their appearance. R/R and I will see you all later**. **also, new cover image for this story. What do you think?**


	16. Chapter 15: the Stars and Stripes

Chapter 15

Day 4: 2153 hours

ISAF's Hoolian base

He was in a daze, maybe even in shock, but eventually the ringing in his ear slits started to subside... what it was replaced by wasn't any better, it defiantly didn't bring him any comfort. Some how his head was clear enough to understand what was going on, even more surprising is when he suddenly found himself at a com-station requesting a medical team. Only then did he start to feel the prickling sensation of the numbness waring off around his burns of every degree. Was that his voice talking? What did he mean 'the bombers were all shot down'?

By who?

What?

He couldn't answer him self. He was to busy screeching out in pain as the numbness suddenly wore off completely, all at once.

23 minutes earlier

St. Aegolius Canyons

St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls...

This place once was home to some of the most brutal owls that ever existed. Skench and Spoorn, Jatt, Jutt, Nyra, the pure ones, at one point even Soren's evil brother Kludd. They all were ruthless, moon blinking, egg snatching, owl napping, cannibalism, slavery, and the idea that one species of owls was purer than another. If it wern't for the arrival of the guardians, the entire owl kingdoms might now be totally concurred by them. If that had happened... well, no one wants to even think about what would have happened.

Now however, the academy was occupied by just two owls. The canyon walls were a natural fortress. It concealed their presence, and kept their position and operation a compleat secret. It was good, because the last thing the 'stars and stripes' wanted was their resistance to be discovered...

 _That could be a problem..._ Stripes thought as he began to armor up for the battle. Activity over ISAF's Hoolian base had been discovered, and it didn't look good. His step sister was also armoring up in her usual gear. He chirred slightly at the snowy as he saw what she was putting on.

"Still using out dated weaponry from WWII? You should really switch to some sort of jet." he said in a sibling rivalry like way with a smile.

"And you should really cut back on tec, you're using such advancements you don't even have to do any work. It's making you fat," Star replied in the same way.

Stripe would have rolled his eyes if owls' eyes wern't loked in their sockets. Classic brother and sister rivalry. What else is there to say?

Stripes chirred slightly. "How can one get fat in this place?" he asked keeping his smile. It was one of the characteristics that Star liked about her brother, he always had the warmest smile with that silver colored beak. It went all the way back to when they first met. Star was her parents' first owlet ever. They were so old that it was shocking that her mother laid an egg. It was only a few nights before they found Stripes during a hunting party, he was found alone, scared, and cold, with no memory. Even though a year had almost passed, his memory had not come back. The only time he had even a glimpse into his past were the daymares that haunted him almost every week. There was nothing anyone could do about it, and for some reason Stripes didn't really want to remember. Whenever he was questioned after he awoke form his daymare, he only replied with one answer that even he didn't understand... 'Some things are meant to be a secret'.

Back to the present, they both knew it was time to get into the air. They locked onto the take-off perches and they were quickly brought up to take-off speed.

It was time...

 **A/N: new chapter, been working on this throughout the week and figured I would get it out today. Again, if you guys have any questions just leave a review or PM me and I will respond to your questions. R/R and I will see you guys later.**


	17. Chapter 16: Stealth

Chapter 16

Day 4: 2141 hours

Between the border of Kuneer and Ambala, 7 miles west by north west of ISAF's Hoolian base

(for those of you who arn't sure, that means they are further west than north)

Stripes slowly approached the base careful not to be detected. Stars, meanwhile, was flying in head on in to the battle. It had been decided that Stars would approach, engage a fighter or two, and then act as a distraction to lure away the fighters before Stripes eliminated the bombers.

The bombers attacking were known as B2 bombers, they looked more like a flying wing, and were some of the most stealthy aircraft ever created despite their size.

The armor code-named the F-22 Raptor was another high tec stealth aircraft. ISAF created it to compete with the F-35. The F-35 is navy, stealth, multi-roll aircraft that was made with a mixture of tec from various countries. The F-22 however wasn't finished until near the middle of the Usean war. It was the second aircraft to feature thrust vectoring. (where the nozzles move up and down to direct the thrust in one direction to increase maneuverability) The base that had the first prototypes was taken by Erusian commandos however, and the armor was later edited by them to become the first super fighter, it was labeled the X-02.

The X-02 was never finished, it was technically still a prototype, and it was so advanced they needed a new kind of bird to fly it. They started to cross bread because they found potential in one area from one bird, and potential in another spot from another bird. It was labeled the same as the armor it was to fly. (I know what you're thinking, how do you get 2 different birds to... you know. Answer, the X-02 wasn't bred, it was designed. The procedure is very similar to cloning.) See footnote 1. Only ISAF's best ace with their best aircraft was able to take on the 4 X-02s Free Erusia managed to create. It had pushed the F-22 to its limits.

To prevent something like that from happening again, Stripes had taken the liberty to make some of his own modifications to the armor, although it still held its recognizable features. He named it the NF-22 Velociraptor. He wouldn't have called his design a super fighter, but it was significantly improved from its original design.

One of the most iconic new features were the external weapon bays he added to the wings. He was able to hold 4 MRAAs in each one. In the Velociraptor's SP weapons bay was a new type of custom missile that he called MET (Multi Engine Tracking) missiles. In the center weapons bay he could hold 16 of them, so yes they are tiny missiles. Tiny, but effective for what he designed them for.

Stripes reached up with a talon and pushed a button that flipped up his hud. He banked slightly this way and that way but couldn't find any thermal signatures.

He sighed.

 _Ohhh, the scientific miracle of stealth. Such potential and yet such a nuisance... remind me to find the owl that created stealth tec and thank him... and assault him, 10 times more than usual!_

 **A/N: not much to say besides I am now on spring brake so expect more from me this week. again I just want to thank you for all for everything R/R please and I will see you all later.**

 **Warning: Foot note may contain spoilers. Don't like don't read.**

 _1: cloning will have a interesting part in the future._


	18. Chapter 17: my armor, my style, my way

Chapter 17

Day 4: 2143 hours

Kuneer, 3 miles west of Tyto's border, 1/2 mile south of Ambala's border

Stars opened the throttle to the engine of her modified P-51. She enjoyed every moment of flying with it, the gentle vibrations resonating through her body, the thrill of the speeds she could pull off with it, and especially the power she felt with everything she upgraded.

She loved old aircraft, she felt WWII was the golden age of aerial combat. It wasn't the world's first war with power armor, armor that is self propelled, but there wasn't any guided missiles, radar, or any advanced tec. Almost everything was dependent on skill and experience. Even after jets were introduced they still had their weaknesses.

And every weakness can be exploited.

It was a rule Star never forgot, ever...

It was partly because of this she upgraded her armor so much. She knew if she just took the default version of a P-51 she would never be able to get anywhere close to anything really. So, she upgraded her own armor to keep up.

And it worked _beautifully._

One upgrade was the engine it self. The engine was replaced with a custom engine designed by her, it was 4 times more fuel efficient, at the same time it was 3 times more powerful.

The original engine was scrapped for parts or just sold as scrap mettle. It was just so old, and it didn't work right. Besides, even if it did Stars probably would have replaced it anyway, there just wasn't enough thrust to work with. And no where near enough power for that type of flying.

That brings us to the next big problem. The P-51 was maneuverable, no doubt about it, but because of how the wing tips and tail was designed it was only maneuverable enough for combat at high altitude. So if she wanted to attack ground targets, and something got on her tail, there would be nothing she could do about it. She would be shot down. So, she found a solution to the problem.

She discovered that there was a design flaw in the engine, to be precise how the exhaust, which is just a light amount of chemical gas mixed with air, is ejected out the engine. Like all fighters at the time, the easiest thing to do was eject the exhaust directly out the side. What they didn't know, because no engine that powerful had been put on a fighter before, was that forcing exhaust that was under pressure directly out the sides on either side of the engine created a lot of stress and had been known to almost littery crush the engine. That's why, back then, when you accelerated the engine rapidly to a high power from a low power, it had been known to cause blow-outs that downed a lot of fighters.

It never happened on a bomber, like the B-17, because the exhaust was always ejected directly out the back. This actually in turn helped give the bomber more thrust, and now one even knew about it.

What I'm getting at, is that she found a way to direct the flow of exhaust down to her wing tips and to her tail feathers. Ejecting it out by a tube system, it gave her much better maneuverability even at low altitudes. She even added a type of propeller that funneled a portion of exhaust through it and out the tail edge of the blades.

There was another advantage to having this type of armor, because it didn't have any jet tec, it was very difficult to get a thermal lock on the owl that flew it. Meaning no guided missiles, and it also would be difficult to detect it on radar.

Meaning, it actually was one of the most stealthy aircraft ever created.

Another upgrade she added was to the AMCs. Mounted to the leading edges of the wings, this model was designed to carry the greatest amount of amo out of any other AMC ever created. Being its primary weapon, it needed a lot of amo.

Especially for strafing. A tactic that she had almost perfected, and she found it to be useful on countless occasions. Stripes never strafed, ever. And it wasn't just because he only had 2 AMCs, it was a personality difference between them.

It had been a debate neither could win or lose, Star had chosen an aggressive path as a true Mercenary. She in fact was not a mercenary, but true Mercenary is a term of extreme aggressiveness.

There are 3 kinds of aces. Those who seek strength, power, and fortune; those who live for pride and honor; and those who can read the tide of battle.

She went for strength, power, and honor; but Stripes could read the tide of battle like no one else.

Star approached the enemy formation now. Stripes would handle the bombers...

 _The fighters are mine..._

 **A/N: I forgot to mention something in the last chapter, the armor Stripes is using is heavily inspired off the f-22 in the ace combat 7 trailer. Not much else to say besides the fact i'll be putting myself in my story. That's right, new OC, This one will mostly resemble me... in most ways anyway.**


	19. Chapter 18: Chasing dreams

Chapter 18

Day Unknown: sunset

The forest kingdom of Ambala, 3 1/2 leagues south of the Barrens

The wind flowed gently outside, the nice autumn breeze would keep the weather balmy, at least for the night. It was a perfect night for flying, and soon all nocturnal creatures in the forest would awaken from their slumber.

Among them, was a young barn owl who had recently just fully fledged his flight feathers.

For most creatures this would just be an ordinary night, but for him, it was different... no... not just different, and not even very different, it was beyond unusual. It wasn't because something unexpected happened, it was because something expected didn't happen.

Chase opened his eyes, blinked twice, then stood up from his nest with a strange look on his face. He was deeply puzzled by something, something seemed... off.

Something felt missing.

Nothing in the hallow was out of place, it still didn't calm the feeling in his gizzard though.

He decided to double check the things in the hallow.

 _Nest, check._

 _Quills, check._

 _Ink, check._

 _Paper, check._

 _Books, check._

 _Dream journal, cheeeee... wait a second... My Journal!_

He rushed over said book; 21 days ago, he started to have weird dreams. For the first few days, he tried to simply ignore them...

But after having the same dream for 3 days he could not ignore them any further. So he managed to get his talons on some paper and ink. The owl he got them from could tell this was a strange owlet. It wasn't like owls of his age that just fledged to suddenly want to pluck their feathers for quills.

What was even stranger was the fact that this owl didn't even know how to read, at least not very well.

Despite this, he wrote down his dream, and it made sense to him.

He could write.

He could actually write.

Even better, he was actually good at something. He had seemed to never be able to do anything right.

And now, he had a reason to continue on.

He opened the book to the first page, the first words he had ever written, for some reason he couldn't figure out what it meant, was it some prophecy, some good light story, or just nonsense?

He couldn't make sense of it.

He read those words again, the same words that began this entire story.

 _When history witnesses a great change, Razgriz reveals itself. First, as a dark demon. As a demon, it uses its power to rain death upon the land. Then it dies. However, after a period of slumber, Razgriz returns..._

 **A/N: Really got nothing to say this time besides Chase is my new OC. He is literally me as an owl.**


	20. Chapter 19: Chase's writer's block

Chapter 19

Now he knew what felt different, what felt wrong.

These dreams always came to him every day when he was asleep; and every time they did he would always write down what ever he could remember. His writing had become faster, more detailed as time went on.

18 chapters, 11,000+ words made up his story. A story he came to know as, the Hoolian war.

He was learning... evolving into what he thought was a good writer.

But then again, how could you call your self a 'good writer' when even you didn't understand what you wrote.

He didn't even know what half of these things were. The Chemical, the f-22, cloning, jet tec, ISAF?

He didn't understand it, but he kept writing his dreams anyways. It kept him going. But now... now he had no dream, he had nothing to write about, and he had no purpose. But he couldn't give up now, maybe something would come to him if tried.

He went over to the book, and opened to a new page. Then he dipped the quill in his supply of ink, but as he brought it down close to the paper; he was blinded by a bright light, as if all the remaining beams from the sunset suddenly concentrated squarely on blank white sheets of paper.

Chase brought up a wing up to block out the light. After it faded, and he brought his wing back down, frustration began to settle in its place. In the shock of the light he had dropped his quill, with the talon he had held it in, he slammed the book shut.

He growled with even more frustration, then he sighed as he calmed down.

He went over to the edge of the hallow, the night was still clear and young, maybe a flight out in the open would do him some good.

A nice vole, some fresh air, and he should be alright.

So that's what he did. It didn't take him long to find a mouse. It wasn't hard either, being a barn owl meant he had extraordinary hearing, but even so, his hearing was even sharper than that of the average barn owl.

It was because of this he heard it before he could even dig in to his meal.

 **A/N: A lot of things in this chapter about my OC are actual facts about me, including my strong hearing.**


	21. Chapter 20: chasing clouds

Chapter 20

What was it? His ear slits were picking up a weird sound, it something between a whirring and a whooshing sound. Somewhere in that noise he thought he heard some sort of buzzing, but not quite that far yet. This day was turning out to be the strangest day of his life, very strange indeed.

The noise started to get louder, and in the distance he thought he saw thin trails of clouds stretching across the star-filled sky.

He sometimes would stay up during the day, to watch the clouds and all their patterns. But, never had he seen clouds like this, they were stranger than anything he had seen before. The clouds looked like they were taring the sky open, like a hot knife splitting apart a curtain in one slow, clean, slash.

What in Glaux's name was going on?

Chase had always been a curious owl, but what he was about to do was beyond just curiosity. Maybe it was fate calling him, or it was the Great Glaux's plan. What ever the reason, he decided against his better judgement, and common sence, to follow these curious noises and clouds.

What he didn't know, was that choice, that single choice to go after them or not, would change the course of history...Everywhere...

 **A/N: Lowknave, no not in writer's block, not me personally. Is it all a dream? (Chuckle) I don't want to reveal** ** _all_** **my secrets, not yet anyway... also, every tracking missile in this story is inferred guided. I was originally going to use magnetic guided missiles along side what I am using now, but Lowknave used that strategy in his stories first. I don't want to feel like I'm copying ideas so I just didn't add it.**


	22. Chapter 21: I see you MET my friends

Chapter 21

Day unknown: 2147 hours

Chase lighted down on the branch of a tall, sturdy, old oak tree. He decided stay there and rest up, because he was completely out of energy. It hadn't been long since he started following the noise, but because it was moving so fast he had to power-stroke almost the whole way to where he was just to keep up. His breathing was rigid and heavy, to him it felt like an elephant was sitting on his chest, and he had to work hard to take in a single breath. His body was hunched over, his wings were limp at his sides. If he hadn't lighted down when he did, he would have passed out. But his energy would regenerate soon, it always had a tendency to do that.

The tree he currently was perched in was overlooking the valley, at the edge of a cliff. He could tell just by what the valley looked like that this was one of the desert borders. This is where Kuneer started. For a moment Chase could not comprehend the fact he had traveled this distance, despite the fact that it was right there in front of him. He was never the fastest owl in his region, but he always paced himself accordingly. This trip had taken out every ounce of his energy though. Heck, the desert was right in front of him. Despite all this, he felt like he was getting closer and closer... at this time he was so close to his goal he could almost feel it. At least, whatever and wherever it was.

All of a sudden, without warning, he gasped as a skull-shattering pain echoed through his head, like how a shout over the same valley he was near would. Different confusing images of something he couldn't make out flashed in his mind, followed by painfully sharp ringing in his ears.

When his vision finally cleared, he found his eyes were turned skyward and what he saw was undeniably... for lack of a better word, strange. What ever these things were that were flying over him, were in every way, unbelievable. Whatever they were he had never seen them before... Wait... no, that wasn't right. He _had_ seen these things before, in his dreams.

For some unknown reason before he had left he felt a overwhelming need to bring his journal. He opened it, and read a quote from one of his most recent chapters.

 **The bombers attacking were known as B2 bombers, they looked more like a flying wing...**

His dream came flooding back to him and he knew that these bombers, they were something from his dreams. But, he was awake. Yet here were the 12 bombers, painted a jet black. They were flying over him in formation, their weapons' bays were opened and he could tell they were ready to fire.

Then it happened...

8 trails of Chemical steam soared across the sky, they intercepted a number of the bombers, and most of them, at least one part of their bodies erupted in flame.

1 of the bomber's wings caught flame and rolled to one side. The bomber beside it couldn't turn in time, and they collided. After they stopped moving from the crash landing, Chase couldn't tell which plane was which.

9 of the 12 were down, but 3 were still air born. They had broken off from their attack and were scattering, trying to make it back to base off the principle that the fighter could only follow one of them at a time.

It wouldn't work though, Stripes had planed for that to happen. He hadn't anticipated the collision, but he wouldn't complain about it either.

He was now approaching one of the bombers, he was close enough to fire a side winder, but he didn't want to waste any in case the MET's failed. He never had a chance to field test them, but they should still work... _in theory anyway_. He thought to himself.

He was now almost in gun range, this was it, it was now or never. He opened the door to his center SP weapons bay and held tight, getting a touch closer to be safe, he squeezed the trigger, and fired twice.

2 MET missiles dropped out and shot off at high speed. Why 2 METs? Well, because the bombers have 2 engines. What does that have to do with anything? You'll see...

The missiles were almost considered tiny, and most would look at them as useless. But their size made them perfect for 2 things, one: to move quickly up the slip stream and engine exhaust of the aircraft it was tailing, and two: to slide straight up past the engine nozzle and detonate inside the engine. No thrust = no flight.

And it worked...

The bomber's engines simultaneously blew out and erupted in flames like duel comets blazing across the starry sky. The bomber began Dutch-rolling, all the way down to the ground.

Chase could almost hear Stripe's cheers at the success of his invention.

Stripe straitened up swiftly (say that 10 times fast) however knowing what was at stake. He turned and gave chase to the rest of the bombers, they needed to be dealt with. And deal with them he would.

13 minutes later

There was a clash, a bang, and a ball of fire; and with that the last of the bombers were shot down.

Stripes once again smiled at the success his invention. It had exceeded his expectations, and now all he had to do was wait for Star to finish off with the fighters...

 _"Stripes! We got a problem here!"_ Screeched Star over the radio.

 _Well that was short lived..._ He thought slightly disappointed, but still more focused on his step-sister.

"What's going on?" he replied concern flooding his voice.

 _"There were more than anticipated, I'm being over run! Get over here as fast as your wings will fly! Urgent! Require assistance ASAP!"_

"I'm on my way!"

 **A/N: happy Easter everyone! I figured I'd give a longer chapter for the holidays. Also, Lowknave, I just want to use the idea of magnetic guided missiles. Not the exact missiles you are using/ planing to use. We probably have different philosophies as to how that would work, and you did introduce them in one of the beginning chapters to your new story, they were a part of the Guardian's** **weaponry.**


	23. Chapter 22: I will reap the reaper

Chapter 22

Day 4: 2214 hours

AWWNB's (A World With No Boundaries) Hoolian base of operations

Pixy's frown grew in fierce concoction of anger and disappointment. His eyes burned with rage and looked fierce enough to melt the monitor he was staring at. Through the monitor, he saw the wreckage from the stealth bombers they had launched, burning all over the forest floor.

The bombers hadn't even been able to complete their job, it was bad because if ISAF's base wasn't eliminated soon they would be able to launch a counter-attack. The problem was, AWWNB had no other bombers in the southern Hoolian kingdoms. Their existence was kept a secret, and it had come in handy for beginning to set up operations across the SHK (Southern Hoolian Kingdoms).

 _On the bright side, they don't have much to attack us with either._ Pixy thought remembering the fact that all ISAF's fighters were crippled... besides those two owls that had just become the biggest thorn in their side.

 _But that's all they are, and that's all they will ever be_. He assured himself.

His mind was too preoccupied on what he was pondering to notice a certain blood-red-dyed owl walking up behind him. His eyes were glassy, there was almost no emotion in them. At the back of his eyes you could almost make out a spark of an owl just wanting to brake free, yet he couldn't, not yet anyway.

That was the trouble with Crescent blinking over Moon blinking, Crescent blinking allows part of the owl's personality to remain intact, almost like a crescent moon, and the owl can still learn, can still think. But, that was just the problem, if the owl could still think for its self it would not be a mindless tool, and it could brake free.

"Are you upset the bombers are down, or is it the fact we have a new thorn in our side?" The owl asked blankly. It truly was the only way he could answer at the time.

Pixy jumped at the sudden voice. He sighed heavily at the owl who was true to his name sake. "Both," he replied simply.

"Hmmm... Could I ask you a question?"

"Sigh, what?"

"Why didn't you shoot down the Reaper, you only wounded him, and you had a perfect shot."

Pixy turned to the owl and stared into his eyes before stating, "Revenge. We work under the principle that the world should be without boundaries, that borders are purposeless. He single talonedly (handedly in human terms) stopped everything we worked for. I watched it all burn in front of me, I wanted him to feel that and that couldn't happen if he was dead."

The Knave paused for a moment. "Maybe I should finish what you started..."

"What, you want to go up against The owl that has a higher kill record than the black devil did? You wouldn't survive a minuet vs him."

"And if I manage to shoot him down?" He said with what almost looked like a smug smile on his face.

Solo Wing just glared at him. "Stay away from him." He stated flatly. With that, he turned and simply walked out of the room.

Knave turned his attention back to the screen, this one showed a replay of Mobius 1's battle with Pixy. He would study these tapes, learn from them as much as he could, he would scan over the records, and he would reap the 'Grim Reaper'.

 _Challenge excepted..._ He thought with what could be classified as a grin for a normal owl, but for him, it was one of the biggest smiles he ever had on.


	24. Chapter 23: he dreamed

Chapter 23

Day 17: sunset

ISAF's Hoolian base

Chase opened his eyes and blinked more than a few times. Something had happened last night. Whatever it was, it had felt incredibly and at the same time vaguely familiar. That's when it hit him like a brick wall.

He dreamed...

The instant he became aware of this realization, he rushed over to the Hoolian war, more awake than any type of coffee would have.

He opened the book to a blank page, ironically, it was the same blank page that had seamed to reject him when he had tried to write without dreams. Now the words flowed like a river onto the page with twists and turns, sometimes the words were thick with detail, other times, a thin amount, sometimes the pages were filled with content, other times they were bland. Either way, they were always true.

His previous chapters hadn't been dreams, but he had felt they were important enough to write down anyway. There was something about them that wrung with truth...

He couldn't worry about that now though. It had been a few weeks, and he was almost done with his training on the ground.

Today was the first day he would be able to 'take off' using a small training armor known as HAWK armor.

The Scoroms of Razgriz knew this armor well. Less than half a year ago, when they were still known as Sand Island Squadron, their base, and its commander, fell under the influence of an owl on the bring of insanity. His name was Hamilton. The war had done quite a number on his mental status, it had led him to begin taking desperate, insane, and reckless matters. If he had managed to pull off one in particular, it likely would have spelt disaster for so many.

What happened? During Razgriz's second to last battle, a orbital weapons platform known as the SOLG began firing at cities. Razgriz was to destroy the control tower on the ground before it was too late.

At the time, Ocea and Yuktobania, the world's super powers, were at war and the Belkans sent a message that went something like this. "Don't let the owls dyed black get near us, in return we will give you a nuclear bomb you can use against your enemies." They said this to both sides and didn't tell them about the weapon platform.

Hamilton wanted and tried desperately to get his talons on the bomb. He wanted it to "Terrify both sides into ending this foolish war. Don't Get In My Way!" He had said this specifically to Razgriz when they entered the tunnel leading to the tower.

He had gone insane at this point, it was obvious because of the fact that no sane owl would hesitate to fallow aces into a tunnel with about 100% chance of dieing. Especially since he was already injured by Blaze in an earlier part of the battle. Hamilton even started shooting at Razgriz, specifically Blaze, despite it all, Blaze evaded being shot down. But their exit was a close call, between Hamilton tailing them, owls attacking head on, the tight space of the tunnel, the shudder doors closing, and other obstacles along the walls, Ceiling, and floor.

Hamilton himself was hit by a ricocheting owl just before he managed to escape the tunnel. He was presumed dead, but no one ever found a body.

Back to the present, in the air they would practice basic combat maneuvers and advanced navigation.

Chase could still remember when he, and the owls from the Great Ga'hoole Tree, which he was honored to meet, got back their test scores and were given their assignments.

 **A/N: sorry i was gone for so long, i might post new chapter today along side this one. Also, I cant thank Lowknave enough for putting me in one of his stories.**


	25. Chapter 24: assignments

Chapter 24

Flashback

Chase gulped, just as nervous as the others in the the room. Each one however had different expressions written on their faces; some looked confident in them selves, others had expressions of concern on their faces. A few even seamed like they just knew they were going to fail miserably.

All eyes were turned over to the door as an owl walked in. Everyone went to attention a Mobius 1 walked over to the owls, no doubt to give them all their assignments.

The band went first.

"Soren, you have shown exceptional work and progress, you have proven you understand how the armor and this form of combat works, and are issuing you command of Ga'Hoole squad. Congratulations Ga'Hoole 1, First lieutenant Soren.

"Gylfie, your navigational skills are off the chart, because of this, you will be joining Ga'Hoole Squad as Ga'Hoole 2. Congratulations second lieutenant Gylfie.

"Digger, your tracking abilities for both aerial purposes and for the ground, are superior to anything we have seen so far. You will be joining Ga'Hoole squad as Ga'Hoole 3, congrats Third lieutenant.

"Twilight, You have a fierceness in your eyes I have never seen before. You are a true worrier, and I'm sure without a doubt you will go far in this war, just don't be too reckless Ga'Hoole 4. Your rank is also third lieutenant.

The band beamed with pride. It looked like all their hard work was paying off, now they could protect and defend the tree from any threat the world could throw at them. Their smiles widened as Mobuis 1 walked over to the rest of the owls in the room, to which he said, "The rest of you however will not be joining any squadron today."

Their smiles were wiped clean off their faces, that went for everyone, everyone was in shock, or had looks of disbelief torn all over their faces. They were all confused, they all had worked so hard, why didn't they get the job?

"Alow me to explain, each one of you did not have the qualifications necessary to become part of a squadron. However, you all still have jobs you would be better at. It's our job to find what you are all best suited for. Whatever job I'm going to give you is what you would be best at here at the base."

"Ruby, I can tell you have potential, I can see that you feel how you fly, and your flying is impressive... However, we can't let you go up because you simply don't understand enough about how the armor works and the weapons it uses. Don't worry too much though, you just need some time to study more about the said subject and you'll be able to take off in no time."

"Martin, your flying skills arn't half bad, but they're not best suited for actual combat. We believe we have a better occupation for you. We decided that you should take classes from Sky Eye and become an AWACS.

"Pillimore, your occupation is something you are more than familiar with. You will become head of our Search and Rescue squad.

"Eglantine, you will be joining our reserve fighter group. I understand you want to be with your brother, but someone has to stay back and come in when we need help. Besides, who else would be better qualified to help take care of the three Bs while their parents are gone on sortie?

"Otulissa,we can see the worrier in you, and we can see that you want to help by fighting, but you also proved that you are an amazing strategist. We are also concerned about your impaired eyesight. We think it might be best if you stay here and become what we call the Supreme Base Commander. You will be able to provide us support that not even Sky Eye can give."

"What about me?" It was Chase's voice, he was curious and concerned as to why he hadn't been picked for Ga'Hoole squad. He had wifiled slightly nervous as to what his role would be with ISAF. Mobius 1 turned to Chase, he had a smile on his face.

"We have something special planed for you. Your going to...


	26. Chapter 25: Night Dreams

Chapter 25

"…you are going to come with me. I will train you personally. There is something honorable about you, and I feel it may be necessary for our operation."

To say Chase was shocked would have been an understatement, the understatement of the year. Chase's beak was open, unmoving, and he was staring into nothingness. His left eye twitched slightly.

Mobius 1 tilted his head to one side, and waved a wing in front of Chase's face. He sighed when he got no response and clicked 2 of his talons together. (Human terms, snapping fingers)

Chase's body jolted slightly and he blinked. "What were we talking about?" he asked as his mind recovered.

Mobius 1's reply was mixed in with chirring. "I hope you don't plan on freezing up on us in the air," was what Chase would get back; fallowed by even more chirring from Mobius 1.

The rest of the room soon joined in, and Chase looked down as his gizzard squeezed, (the closest thing an owl can do to resemble blushing) slightly embarrassed, but he had a smile on his face never-the-less.

 _I'll be flying with the best, of the best, of the best. And he promised to teach me what I need to know._ How could he be happier?

 **End of flashback.**

Chase thought back to this as he walked down the corridor, just before walking the briefing room. He closed his eyes and let his mind wonder back to that day. He smiled remembering that moment... and others after that one as well. Learning how to start the engines, practicing different maneuvers in simulations on the ground, how to align with the landing perches, and so many other things that had been explained in the past 3 weeks.

It's like when you arrive for your first day of work, or when you go to a different school for the first time that year. You don't really know what'll happen, it may be exhilarating, or even terrifying, but you still don't give up. Like the stated examples, what he had done in the past with the others had brought along both good and bad memories.

He let those memories savor in his mind before snapping himself back to reality.

He opened his eyes, took in a deep breath, and pushed through the door.

22 minutes later.

Once more, Chase found his mind wondering. Before he had just tried to write his dreams, and see how the story played out. But now, now he was becoming a part of that story. Now he would take off with the top aces of both Osea and ISAF.

He had studied about these countries, more specifically about their history. Their past for the most part had been peaceful, but in recent years things had taken a darker turn. The world had been plagued with a seemingly endless stream of war.

1995 had marked the Belken war. It had been so severe it had almost been classified as the third world war, and for the longest time it had been shrouded in mystery. Even after the war had officially ended, there was still fighting. An organization known as A World With No Boundaries soon formed after the peace treaty was signed. As their title suggested, they were bent on world domination. But had been stopped by a lone Ustio mercenary, his name was Cypher, Call sign Galm 1. He had named his most memorable battle with the code name 'Zero'. The date was Dec 31, 1995. After the final battle, and after he shot down Solo Wing Pixy, he seemingly disappeared from existence. What no one knew though, was that he would show himself again.

That brings us to the next war, the Usian continental war. It had been obvious by what transpired on Mobius 1's first sortie that he had had some prior experience. I mean really, come on. How believable is it that a rookie, flying in an outdated armor, could down 8 bombers and their escorts? On his first sortie, no. He had named his most memorable battle the code name 'Shattered Skies'. It had been the most massive air battle ever fought in history. The battle's date was Dec 31, 2004. But he still remembered the final battle vividly. Its name was Megalith. A super weapon designed to shoot fragments off of asteroids and have them come raining down on the country of their choice. To put it bluntly, Mobius 1 blew up the whole thing.

He had told Chase all this himself.

With that, Chase finished writing the chapter he was on, sat down the pen, and headed for the door.

 **A/N: might post mini chapter after this one. I misplaced my manuscript for the next couple chapters. Hope to find it soon. Also, if you are confused on a few details regarding this story, check out my side story the Hoolian war prequel.**


	27. Chapter 26: ?

Chapter 26

?

?

Chase soared at the enemy head on. They were still in formation, that meant he would be able to attack on the head-on, but it would be more dangerous because that many fighters could shoot and fire at him from all over.

But he knew what he was doing.

As the enemy got closer he unlocked his side winders, finger on the trigger. They were now in range but he still didn't fire, not until they did. He knew he would have to get in closer because aces likely would be able to dodge his missiles better than a novice flyer.

Besides, somehow it felt almost instinctive.

He saw a white dot in front of him, he recognized it instantly as the trail of steam the enemy's missile was giving off. Not even a split second later he pushed his engines to their max, and fired a single missile. As soon as it was clear he pulled up hard, increasing his altitude to give him some advantage above the rest.

The missile struck home, the owl, who obviously was the flight lead, had tried to evade the missile at the last minute, but was unable to respond in time. Chase looked back down as he saw the flight lead crash and burn on the ground. He turned his attention back to the scattered squadron that had begun to form up again, and was trailing him. He began something between a zig-zag and a snake maneuver, while maintaining his altitude and keeping his engines at maximum power.

They were trying to get into a good firing position on Chase, but they couldn't, not with what he was doing. He kept this maneuver up until he got out of missile range, when he did he continued the ark he was in and did a 180* turn, and faced the enemy once more. When he faced them, he fired another sidewinder and pulled up again. He barely managed to pull up before he hit the owl he shot, and flipped around for another attack, this one from behind.

This wouldn't take long, with only 3 owls left in the group anyway. He locked on to the 3 owls with his SP weapons. 3 MRAAs launched and chased after the owls and they desperately tried to evade the lethal projectiles. The missiles followed their targets with deadly accuracy, and just like that 2 more owls were shot down. The third managed by some stroke of luck to evade the MRAA launched at it. Weather it had hit or not didn't matter to Chase as long as the majority was taken out.

Now engaged in 1 on 1 combat, Chase began his attack on this last owl. They began circling each other, and Chase measured what he thought this owl was. _A 6 or 7 I'd say. No matter, I have experience dealing with someone as high as a queen or king._ He realized after a couple dozen seconds this wasn't working. And he re-tried his previous maneuver of zigging until he got out of range.

As he was just about to get out of missile range, he saw something he almost couldn't believe. Projectiles of the enemy's from countless miles away attacked at supersonic speed, his body was not only shocked, but tossed like a rag-doll when the shock-wave hit him, followed by the explosion itself. Chase shut his eyes hard, he could feel his feathers ripping out of his wings and body, they swirled around him like a swarm of butterflies, but at the same time he felt no pain.

His world turned upside down and he felt swarmed by something…

He heard himself scream, and nothing felt right, all he felt were confusing, conflicting, and contradicting scenes. And only one mildly sane thought entered his mind...

The world exploded.

 **Alright, chapter 26. Sorry it took so long, school has been killing me, and i have had some other personnel issues i needed to take care of. I am also sorry to report that this story and all my other ones are on hiatus until i get on summer vacation. It has nothing to do with you, but i wanted to get out one chapter before i go away for a while. This time with some action. (v) Don't worry too much, i have the next few chapters written out on a notepad I just need to type and paste.**

 **Until next time, this is ashipnerd signing off.**

 **(edit: i changed part of the paragragh where Chase was attacked by a long range attack. it was a bit too misleading.)**


	28. Chapter 27: Starsight

Chapter 27

?

?

" _Chase…? Chase…?_ _ **CHASE!**_ "

Chase's eyes snapped open like a cracking whip. His breathing was rushed, heavy, almost to the point of hyperventilation. He soon calmed down however when he took in his surroundings. He was back at the base, back in the crew room, best of all he was safe. He relished that feeling, and turned to the source of the voice that woke him up.

It was Soren, the king of the great Ga'Hoole tree. He had a look of concern plastered on his face, obviously worried about the owlet. "Are you alright?" he asked politely.

"I'm fine, just a daymare."

"It sounded worse than 'just' a daymare. Tell me about it," he motioned for Chase to stand next to him. He was hesitant at first, but after being motioned a second time, he complied and walked over.

Chase told Soren his dream, and others before it as well. Chase wasn't one to brag, but he was happy to finally tell someone about he had dreamt. Before now, anyone that he had tried to talk to about them had either ignored him or just called him yoicks. He definitely wouldn't argue with the last part, there were times he had actually questioned his own sanity…

But that wasn't important, what was important was the fact someone was listening to him, and to what he had to say. Chase felt that it was an unpayable debt, but he would try his best to help Soren wherever he needed him.

Too soon it seemed that Chase finished telling his tale. It wasn't until he finished, he noticed the look on Soren's face. It was a mixture of surprise and confusion, Chase could have sworn he saw a bit of shock in there too.

After checking who was around him, he found every owl from the Great Tree had surrounded him, all with the same expression.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" He asked slowly.

Soren and Gylfie turned to each other, they had been best friends for years, they knew what each other was thinking. It came out in one word.

"Starsight…"

 **A/N: I am now on summer vacation. I should update more often now, next chapter will explain missiles.**


	29. Chapter 28: What are missiles?

Chapter 28

"Starsight? What's Starsight?" It was Chase who spoke, confused as to what it was. Gylfie was the one who explained, she and Soren were very familiar with the topic.

"When you have Starsight, the stars are like holes in the cloth of a dream. Through those holes you can see bits and pieces of the past, present, and future. And you have it."

"The thing I don't understand, is how Chase remembers his dreams, and so vividly too. Soren has Starsight and almost never remembers his dreams until they happen." It was Twilight speaking this time, and he did have a strong point. He then put on a slightly suspicious face on. "Unless, that is, you've been spying on…"

"I'M NOT SPYING ON ANYONE!" Chase roared. "I write my dreams down while they're still fresh in my mind, and memory." He said more calm than before. "I have them almost every night, I have plenty of experience with remembering them."

"Settle down everyone," ordered a certain bald eagle as he entered the room. At the front of the room, next to him, was a cleverly made device. "Can anyone tell me what this is? Yes, Otulissa."

"I believe you would call that a 'missile' sir."

"Correct. Missiles are the most widely used weapons in modern combat. Think of it like battle claws for the technology of this continent. Like battle claws, there are many different types and styles of them, and they can be used for different situations.

"This type right here is the most common design. They call it a side-winder. Named after the desert snake, it was named that way when the idea of using projectiles was introduced. You could carry 2 or 3 of them depending on your species. Most fighters nowadays carry either 2 or 4 sidewinder missiles depending on what type of armor you fly with.

"It runs on a more simple principle. When launched, a short piece of iron is pushed into the rear container filled with The Chemical. The reaction creates an incredible amount of pressure. That pressure is released and ejected out the back. This projects the missile forward.

"The guidance system has changed over the years, but they run on similar principles. The first guidance system created made the missile track the sound of its target's engine and AMC firing.

"But there were flaws in the system, and there was an 80% chance that it would work. Not only that, if another fighter crossed in front of the target, it would lose track completely due to the confusion. The system was then changed to thermal reading." After that was said, Sky Eye pulled out a small amount of metallic flecks. The Ga'Hoolian owls wilfed slightly and took a step back. Sky Eye noticed and explained what these were.

"Don't worry, these aren't the flecks you know. These are heat flecks. They attract to heat. Watch this." When he finished talking, he pulled out a match and lit it. The flecks on the table jumped right into the flame like a magnet. Sky Eye shook the match, extinguishing the flame.

"Now, imagine what would happen if we place a large amount of these in a fin, and attached 8 of these fins to a missile. That is how missiles track their target when dealing with aerial attacks. Ground targets use a different system.

"Magnetic flecks. Place those where you would put heat flecks and it will attract to whatever can be magnetized. I won't do a demonstration because I'm sure you know how that works.

"Side winders have both heat flecks and magnetic flecks in their fins. They are the first and currently the only mass-produced missile capable of both air and ground attacks. This makes them the most used missile in this day and age. But, due to only having ⅔ of an effective guidance system, it isn't as useful as a air to air or an air to ground missile.

"Next missile, and the most common air to ground missile, is the MGAG. That stands for Magnetically Guided Air to Ground missile. It has about the same range as a side-winder, however, due a system built into them, you can attack 4 targets simultaneously with one pull of the trigger. Due to the magnetic interference we include a thin helmet designed to block it. You know it as a mu metal helmet.

"Now, the next missiles we are going to talk about are called MRAAs. It stands for Medium Range Air to Air missiles. They have about twice the range of a side-winder, and due to the fact they only have air to air abilities they have better maneuverability. They can also attack 4 targets simultaneously. A similar system is known as the MAA6. It has the same effect, but attacks 6 targets instead of 4.

"Another similar system is called the LRAA. Long Range Air to Air missile. But they are bigger and you can't carry as many in your weapon supply. They are more useful for Naval operations.

"Those are the basic missile systems that we use. Now, how about we stretch our wings a bit. We launch at 1130 hours, dismissed.

 **A/N: sorry it took a weak. I've been really tired and I wanted to work on some other things of mine. Also, new cover image. PM me or leave a review to guess what it is. Also, I would like to thank Lowknave for allowing me to use magnetic missiles for this story. He owns the idea, and I give almost all credit to him.**


	30. Chapter 29: I need to keep going

Chapter 29  
Day 18: midnight

Somewhere in the western half of Barrens

 _I have to keep going…_

That was the only motivation he would receive for what he was doing. All things considered, it was all he needed. He had his goal, get to ISAF, give them what they need. The data he had with him had to get to them and their armed forces. This owl had thought Erusia was insane to join forces with Belka, a country that would nuke its own soil.

Now though, what they were planning was beyond words. If it wasn't for the loyalty he had to his country, he would have gone AWAL much earlier in this war.

Call it a war, there were hardly any conflicts ever since _they_ shot down the bombers. No one knew who they were, all that they knew was that they resided in St. Aggie's.

Unofficially, ISAF had The Beaks, the Forest Kingdom of Tyto, the Desert of Kuneer, and the Forest Kingdom of Ambala. The Barrens was considered neutral territory, and would likely be where the 2 sides would clash in battle the most. Virtually everything north of that belonged to "FWWB".

A Free World Without Boundaries.

It was the name the two powers had come up with when they officially joined forces. And the owl had to admit, it did have a nice ring to it. Now though, he could see past the lies, and see them for what they really are.

A corrupt republic seeking to be the first to achieve world domination. One that had tried today to shoot him right out of the sky.

The armor he was flying had been damaged, hit by what felt like a dozen arrows. The fiery ordinance was causing him excruciating pain, and he was smoking in several different places. They hadn't set him on fire though… ...yet.

He could worry about that later, right now his main focus had to be concentrating on getting across the border. If he didn't get there in time…

That brings his thoughts back to his motivation…

 _I have to keep going..._

 **A/N: sorry about short chapter today, I've been busy and this is the best place to end the chapter without cutting something off.**


	31. Chapter 30: training

Chapter 30

Day 18: midnight

The Beaks

"What?" A shocked Chase asked as he received the order from Mobius 1. Chase quickly corrected himself. _That's no way to talk to your commanding officer. What were you thinking Chase!?"_ He lectured to himself.

"I mean, please repeat, I don't think I understand."

"You heard me, let's try a little target practice Chase," Mobius 1 responded with what almost looked like a sly grin. During the short time they had been flying out over the Beaks, they had been practicing different basic combat maneuvers like it had been planed. But now they were going to start firing at practice targets? Here? Now?

This wasn't part of their assignment, they were really just meant to fly around and get familiar with the armor. Chase didn't realize they would be shooting anything. He put on an unsure, twisted face. Mobius 1 noticed his confusion and clarified.

"There is a reason we armed you with training warheads. We have plenty of targets to shoot at, some crew at the base lit fires for us earlier this night. Lock onto a target with your HUD, you have permission to leave formation. Go get 'em Chase."

Chase shook off his surprise, banked away from his mentor, and approached a target. Reaching up, he flipped a switch and unlocked his side winders. His HAWK armor was able to carry 4 of these, plus an AMC. The armor was small, and lacked the high-tech that fighters in other armors often took for granted. Not only that, it lacked an after-burner, a tool almost necessary for modern combat. However, it made a great training jet for novice flyers who knew almost nothing about combat.

Chase locked onto one of the targets below, and fired. The missile screeched across the sky, like a lethal blur, jackknifing through the air, leaving a trail of chemical gas in its wake.

Contrary to ordinary belief, these missile systems' detonators don't actually explode. Although gunpowder does exist in the owl world, it doesn't have the same uses. There is a small packet of powder in the missiles, but it isn't used like how a missile would in the human world. The powder is used to be a igniter, and a violent dispersal mechanism. The Chemical is the actual weapon, the explosion of the powder forces a (for a lack of a better word) container filled with pressurized Chemical(I really should make a better name for that) into a wide cone burst.

An explosion of just powder might damage the owl, but the biggest hazard for any bird is fire. Flaming Chemical sprayed in the air creates the biggest chance of catching an owl on fire and burning it out of the sky.

The missile Chase launched was the first and currently only mass-produced missile capable of both air to air and air to ground attacks. It was almost considered mandatory for all aircraft.

The missile made impact with the target, and the resulting fire flared up, before dropping back down like a bolder. It spread across the ground, like a ripple of liquid fire.

To put it simply, target destroyed.

2 hours later.

Ga'Hoole squadron, the Razgriz, Mobius 1, Sky Eye, and Chase all were flying above the Beaks, proceeding to go through with another training exercise. They had all rearmed at the base and had taken back off to continue their training. Chase and Ga'Hoole squad were not informed of the details, but they silently hoped the mission wouldn't be precarious.

"All right nuggets! Listen up!" It was Mobius 1 in a commanding voice. "This test revolves around Ga'Hoole's effectiveness as a squadron. Chase will fly off any direction he chooses at whatever altitude he wants. Ga'Hoole, you are to track him down, and take him out. This will also let us see how you react to a situation like this in practice. Whoever takes out Chase gets to be first in line for the next meal. If Chase shoots you all down, he gets first in line. Any questions?"

…

…

…

…

…

"What?" asked a dumbfounded Chase.

 **I'm back! Sorry it took so long, my computer wouldn't work for like a week or more, and there were some other things I needed to take care of.**


	32. Chapter 31 cat and mouse pt 1

Day 18

02:30 hours

Somewhere over the Beaks

"Gylf, Digger, status report."

"No sign of him on our end Soren, the Southwest is clear. How about you?"

"Nothing northeast. He's not allowed leave the Beaks right?"

"Yeah, it's the only rule they gave him. I'm starting to wish they would give us a hint."

"This test is to see how good we operate as a squadron Twilight. We wouldn't get the full effect if we knew where he was."

"I guess you're right Soren. But seriously, where is he?"

"You think he might have bugged out?"

Chase smiled at Gylfie's last comment. He wouldn't leave at an opportunity like this. Plus, he liked being first in line for food. A little while ago, Soren decided it would be easier to find Chase if they split into 2 groups. Soren and Twilight would stay together while Digger and Gylfie went with each other to find him elsewhere. The strategy was a good idea for finding him in theory. Chase however had done everything he could to hide himself. Honestly going up against 4 other owls, all much older and more experienced with flying, terrified him.

He had made sure to turn off all external lights he had, and had climbed to about 12,000 ft. The radio was quiet, but there wasn't much noise up there anyway. The other owls were flying at only 6,000 ft. _I guess they just didn't know what to expect._ Chase supposed.

He was now 'stalking' Digger and Gylfie. His altitude was about 9,000 ft, descending into a cloud, he could easily catch up to them even if they tried to escape now. He began to close the distance between him and the squadron. Now at an altitude of 7,000 feet, he unlocked his side winders and kept his finger on the trigger.

He locked onto Digger with his missile, and fired. Before it even hit Digger, he turned and fired his AMC at Gylfie. They were all training weapons, the missiles sprayed water while the arrows had blunt rubber tips.

"Digger, Gylfie, you 2 are out of action. Head back to base and do not use your radio. That's an order." It was Sky Eye speaking, he was monitoring the battle from afar and was informing them that they were disqualified from the exercise.

"Gylfie, report in." It was Soren, asking for another status report. What should she tell him?

"I'm afraid Soren that Gylfie and Digger have been disqualified. "

Soren was deeply confused.

"What did they do?"

"They were shot down. It's just you and Twilight now."

"Good luck, and fair skies."


	33. Chapter 32: cat and mouse pt 2

"Good luck, and fair skies."

That transmission was from Chase, it confused what remained of Ga'Hoole squadron. But it really was just how Chase was. He would always wish everyone good luck, for many, they would need it.

"Why would you say that Chase? Is this a reference to the fact you win blackjack 75% of the time?"

Chase chirred slightly, it was true that Chase was just that lucky at the game, but didn't usually brag.

"It's just what I plan on saying to those who fly with me."

"And how is that working?"

Soren wouldn't get a response from Chase, he had gone silent and would stay that way for a time.

…

Some time had gone by and the radio was still silent as a mouse. Soren and Twilight were getting anxious as time went on. Both were fully alert and were scanning the skies, looking for the silent owl that was likely stalking them from a distance.

"Keep your head on a swivel," ordered an uneasy Soren. Both he and Twilight were glancing throughout the sky, scanning with their eyes to find the owl coming after them. How Ironic it was, the hunters had become the hunted. Heck, the darker shadows in the clouds made them jumpy, just waiting for them to break formation and just fly back to base.

They couldn't however until this exercise was complete.

Chase knew that they would see him by what they were doing, and he wasn't exactly excited about going up against these 2 owls. Their stories was once just a legend, now though, almost everyone knew about the Great Ga'Hoole tree. The band members were practically superstars, and many would call Chase lucky for being this close to them.

He did feel lucky, but not in that way.

Chase had a different strategy in mind for these two. To avoid supreme combat, he approached directly from the front, engaging in a head-on attack. Using his hud, he preselected his target.

Twilight.

Chase knew he would probably be a much more challenging opponent that Soren. Descending to their attitude, he made sure his side winders were unlocked.

Distance:1,000 ft from target.

Once Chase closed to a distance of about 520 ft he could lock onto Twilight and fire a missile. And that's just what he did.

Because both Twilight and Soren were looking around and not forward or using their huds, Chase went undetected until Twilight was fired at. He had no time to respond as the missile struck home. Twilight's face was soaked, and not two seconds later, a blur raced right over Twilight, barely missing him.

The blur was Chase, having done the head-on attack. Note to self, when in a head-on attack climb to a higher altitude once clear of missile. Chase thought.

Now it was just him and Soren, wait…

Where was Soren?


	34. Chapter 33 cat and mouse pt 3

_Oh how the tables have turned_. This thought made Soren smile. While he had to admit that this owl did have talent for taking out the rest of his squad, Soren was not a normal guardian. He had been apart of the coliering and whether chaws, both taught him how to fly better than any other chaw could have.

He was even used to flying upside-down.

Shaking his thoughts from his head, he closed in on Chase. He closed to about 400 ft away from Chase who was still looking around. But he was flying on a straight course, Soren felt that this was a perfect opportunity of take him out. Unlocking his side winders, he switched his HUD to attack mode. A rapid fire of beeps alongside a red box flying at a green box representing a target. They intertwined, giving a long, solid beep representing an indication of a missile lock-on. His missiles were primed and ready to fire. But as Soren reached for the trigger, something odd happened.

Chase suddenly barrel rolled into a cloud out of sight and off Soren's HUD. Soren lost the missile lock too. Soren turned and gave chase after him, his smile gone. Soren couldn't find him again in the cloud, and even though he was sure Chase would be just outside the cloud, when he emerged Chase had disappeared.

"Wha...?" Soren started to ask confused. Immediately remembering his training, he began to check the sky around him, realizing that Chase, once again, had the upper hand, wing, talon, which ever one you prefer. The point was that he had lost sight of Chase, and he couldn't have gone far. Soren kept checking the air above and around him like his life depended on it. This could be useful for the real thing.

He could hear Chase's plane somewhere around him, but in the open sky could not pinpoint where it was coming from. But he could tell it was close, really close.

Then, after five minutes of not being able to see him, he noticed something. He felt a light disturbance in the air below him, and if an owl could get goosebumps, he sure would have had them. Slowly, his gaze fell down. That's when he saw him.

Chase was flying inverted, no more that 6 feet below Soren, a smile on his face. When Soren looked down, his smile got bigger.

Soren's eyes widened, just before he could do anything, Chase rolled back up and fired his AMC. The training arrows hit their mark.

Soren could only stare in surprise. He wasn't angry, or disappointed in his squad. Just amazed that Chase could do what he did.

"Splash four. All units return to base, nice work Chase," said a watchful Sky Eye from a far distance away.

"You did good Soren, almost had me there for a moment," Chase with 'a spring in his step'. (metaphorically speaking of course) His words were sincere, there was only a hint of pride in his tone. Although he wouldn't brag about it, in his mind he was sure he was probably the best cadet in the base.

He and Soren turned and headed back to base, but not before Sky Eye picked up on something.

"Hmm? What's this?"

 **A/N: I'm back! Sorry it took so long to update guys. High-school has been wearing me down, and I really wanted to work on something else. I've been working on this story for almost a year now, hard to believe right?**

 **Bty, this does not mean I will regularly update this story again. But I will work on it every once in awhile. Sorry if I've disappointed anyone, but this is the best I can do.**

 **The story is not dead though. Right now this is my secondary project.**

 **I have personal reasons as to why this is now my secondary project. It is not you guys, it's me. And I mean that for real. It's not like what the doctor said in that new star trek to spock. I do mean it.**


	35. Chapter 34: Defect, and a loss

Day 67

 _It wasn't supposed to be this way._

Chase was in a long turn, maintaining a circle around the crash sight like a C-130, or a vulture.

 _I didn't want this._

The smoke plume was plain to see, rising like ash from a volcano. Chase closed his eyes. He knew who was in that crash, and he knew what had happened. He also knew how it was his fault.

 _Why didn't you just go back?_

…

13 minutes earlier

"Ga'Hoole squadron, do you have him in sight?"

"This is Ga'Hoole 1. That's affirmative. Approaching defector aircraft now."

"Roger, lead him back to base. Don't shoot unless absolutely necessary. Understand?"

"Understood. Let's move guardians."

This was the conversation Chase heard as Ga'Hoole squadron approached him from behind. It was easy to make them out, they had to be the only squad in all the air forces of the world that didn't dye their feathers one color or another. Even Chase had put a patchwork of a single light green dye mixed with his natural colors. Their f-15s were flying in formation, intercepting him as quickly as possible. Chase watched as Soren flew alongside his Mig-29, their eyes met.

"Return to base Chase, if you go now we might be able to save you from a Court Martial."

"Actually _Soren,_ I technically can't be Court Martialed. I'm not an ISAF citizen, nor an Osean citizen. I'm a mercenary, a volunteer, I can quit any time I want. Not only that, the armor I'm flying is technically mine. It was given to me personally by the defector who told us about the F.W.W.B railgun network. Unlike your f-15s, which were given to you by whom you work for."

"Why would you become a turn feather to the owls who helped defend your nation?"

I churred at that. "Do you really believe ISAF will just _stop_ when they take control of the SK and then just give us back our kingdoms? Just like that? They have the same mission a Free World Without Boundaries has on this continent. They aren't protecting us, they want to conquer all of the Southern Kingdoms. You and your squad are nothing but pawns in this war."

"You have no evidence to support that claim."

"Even if the physical evidence isn't there, you have to admit that something doesn't feel right."

"My gizzard hasn't felt anything wrong."

"When was the last time your gizzard felt that something was right?"

"You dare question your king?!"

"I don't recognize your authority. You may have done great things in the past, but they were before my time. You have no jurisdiction over me, I outrank you in ISAF's airforce, and I'm loyal to Ambala, not Ga'Hoole."

"Then come back and help defend your kingdom."

"My kingdom has fallen to the talons of a corrupt and tyrannical republic. I will not stand idly by as a part of it, nor of its fighting force. There is no force, no money, and no power that can stop me now, and change my fate."

Soren was quiet for a moment, then he sighed. "I guess we'll have to do this the hard way."

"So it seems," Chase replied simply. He took a deep breath, then took action. He snapped the throttle open. At the same time, Chase barrel rolled over Soren, leveling out on his left side. The afterburner kicked in and Chase took off.

"Ga'Hoole Squadron, punch it up! Fire at will!" Commanded Soren as he opened others followed behind him, trying to get a missile lock-on to the defector. Chase pulled up, angling his 'nose' up to a 55* angle upwards, gaining altitude rabidly.

The other owls followed suit. But as as they started to follow him, he pulled back over, finished the loop, and fired his AMC. He had wanted them to follow him, taking down an entire squadron of owl aces, all much older and more experienced than him, would be very difficult. He had had plenty of time to study each owl's flying styles. He knew at least one of them would be in the line of fire, and he was right.

Twilight was hit in the wing, the flaming arrows burned through the feathers on his wing, singeing the contact points, and began to set the wing ablaze.

"Ga'Hoole 4, bailing out!" Twilight said as the armor disconnected and fell away from him. An auto flame suppression system went off at the same time, extinguishing the fire beginning to burn on Twilight's wing. His parachute opened a moment later.

Chase rushed past, avoided Twilight, and chose his next target. That target was Digger. He pushed hard to the right as Chase closed behind him. There was one thing about Digger Chase had realized quite some time ago.

He was predictable.

So he knew when Digger would flip over and try to trick his opponent by banking to the left, but pushing his tail down, turning the other way. And therefore, Chase was ready for it. He fired his AMC ahead of Digger, and the burrowing owl had no time to react.

Another owl fell, another bailed out, another owl survived.

That's all that mattered. Chase knew at that point that there would be no chance of convincing the others to head back to base. But he couldn't let them follow him either. The owls he was defecting to did _not_ want their base discovered. So he would have to shoot them down.

He had grown a bit more accurate with the AMC, but was no marksmen. He had almost used ⅓ of his ammunition for his AMC, and he hoped he would have enough to take out the last two.

Using the clouds for cover, he searched around for another target. Below him, he saw a smaller owl that he knew had to be Gylfie. He didn't leave the cloud until she got a bit closer. Then he pounced.

Somehow, the arrows he fired from his initial attack missed, and Gylfie began to take evasive action.

Chase was staying on her tail, but couldn't keep a direct target on her. The arrows he kept shooting continuously missed his miniscule target. And then he came to a horrifying realization.

He would not be able to shoot her down. Not with his AMC.

But he couldn't let her follow him. He would have to take her down with a missile. But that would put her life at even greater risk. Worse still, he feared that a classic sidewinder would not be able to maneuver fast enough to make contact. He would have to take her down…

With an SAAM.

These missiles were practically a long range quick maneuver missile, but they weren't a fire and forget system. The owl who fired it would have to keep the target in the target reticle in order for the missile to track the target, not only that, they had a bigger warhead. At a distance it wasn't too much of a challenge to maintain a lock on. But Chase was in AMC range, and he knew it was too close. He could just pull back on the throttle, but that would sacrifice far too much energy.

So instead he climbed to about 65*, slowing down while gaining some energy in his climbing. Then he flipped over, letting gravity pull him into a dive. He unlocked his missiles, and locked onto the target. Quietly, he whispered: "I'm sorry." Then pulled the trigger. The missile roared, speeding through the air like a chell from a battleship. Immediately a warning beeped and Gylfie turned sharply to her left. She flipped her countermeasure switch, and nothing happened. Another warning popped up, reading: **Countermeasures Empty**.

Her final thought was: 'out of all the nights the ground crew could have slacked off-' The missile then made contact, and for a brief moment, time seemed to stop. Then she began to fall out of the sky.

"Eject Gylfie!" "Get out of there!" "Bail Gylfie!" called the two remaining fighter owls and the AWACS from a distance. But nothing happened. She just kept falling.

The impact was rather shallow. It bounced up for a brief moment, glided through the air for a second, then came back down. It bounced again, this time without as much force, before it hit the ground harder and skidded for a short distance before coming to a stop.

"GYLFIE!"

"GYLFIE!"

"GYLFIE!"

The smoldering carcass left a shallow ditch in its wake. Black smoke rose from the crash. And from where he was, Chase could not believe what he had just done. A tear rushed down his cheek, it was one of despair and confusion. Then he squinted his eyes shut in profound grievance.

 _I didn't want this. Why didn't you just go back?_

He wasn't able to ponder it longer. Arrows rushed past him, so close to his frame, that he could feel the intense heat as the arrows screeched past him just a few millimeters off of his feathers.

He peeled away to the left, re-engaging his afterburners as missile alarms sounded. He was barely able to avoid the constant barrage of arrows and missiles. And he knew who was launching them all. The high-pitched shree of a barn owl could be heard even without the radio.

At the moment, Soren was to the point of indescribable rage. So much to the point that not even Kludd could have been able to compare. Not anymore.

With a full stock of missiles and arrows, Soren wasn't holding back. He never stopped firing his AMC, and at random intervals kept pulling the trigger that shot off his missiles.

Chase would have been lying if he said he avoided everything shot at him. He could avoid the missiles, but the arrows were another story. They hurt. But he continued to dodge.

Suddenly, Soren's AMC rotational launch system seemingly jammed. The missiles stopped firing too. Only then did he realize that he had just emptied his entire AMC supply. Not only that, his sidewinders had all been launched and had all missed.

"AWACS... I'm winchester."

Soren couldn't say anymore than that. What could he say? He and his entire squadron had just been bested by an owlet. A stupid owlet. That owlet pulled back, and flew along side Soren. They looked at each other, and Soren just closed his eyes.

Chase slowed down and got into a position behind Soren. He knew he didn't have to worry about Soren trying to evade. He had just lost his reason to fight. Taking deep breaths, Chase lined up his shot.

Soren flinched in surprise as he felt the arrows hit his armor. He suddenly rolled sharply to the left involuntarily, and noticed his armor wasn't responding like it should have. He did a quick damage check.

The left engine was dead, the left vertical fin was shot off, and the left elevator fin was badly damaged. Chase returned to his place beside Soren, and once more they looked into each other's eyes. Soren couldn't believe it, Chase had just spared his life.

The said owl opened his throttle and kicked in full afterburner. He pulled up, gaining altitude. Soren snapped out of his daze, and realized something. This owl had spared his life, but had taken the life of his best friend in return. He could never forgive that, he reached down and unlocked his MRAAs. He quickly got a lock on, and fired them all.

Chase dove, heading straight toward the ground. The missiles were catching up quickly, but checking his trajectory, he fired all of his remaining missiles. He fired a burst from his AMC, igniting the Chemical gas. He threw something after them as well, and the heat from the missiles threw off Soren's. All the missiles plowed into the ground and detonated on impact.

"Splash one." Sky Eye said as Chase's transponder beacon was destroyed. Taking one last glance at the smoke pluming from the ground, Soren returned to base.

…

The Mig-29 finally came to a stop on what was to be its final flight. The owl flying it disconnected, and walked toward the two fighters in the canyon. He looked up at them, one was a snowy owl, the other a barn owl.

"Wellcome, Chase."

The owl stopped walking and frowned. "Don't call me that."

The snowy and barn owl were shocked. The snowy opened her mouth to say something, but the Mig flyer cut her off.

"Chase died in a crash trying to defect from the Independent State Allied Forces. My name in the air is Shadow. You may call me Chase here, but not while we are flying."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Shadow, callsign Knight. I'm volunteer fighter from an unknown location. I fight for no one's side but my own. I will defend those who cannot defend themselves. This I swear, I am a blade for Glaux to wield how He sees fit. I am a knight of the air."

 **End of Book One.**

 **A/N: Well guys, this has been a long project that has come to a close. I hope to continue it soon, but I lack motivation. I had wanted to post this on the story's one year anniversary, but I had been sick for a week and was unable to write.**

 **I may continue the series yet however. Be on the lookout. I might post a trailer for book 2. If I do, that means I am considering to continue the story.**

 **Until next time, this is Ashiperd signing off.**


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